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Grazyna Bacewicz, composer and violinist; b. 5th February 1909 in Lódz, d. 17th January 1969 in Warsaw. Initially she was taught the piano and the violin by her father – Vincas Baceviius (Wincenty Bacewicz). From 1919 she continued her musical education with Helena Kijeskia-Dobkiewicz in ?ód? Music Conservatory, where she studied violin, piano and music theory. In 1923 she moved with the whole family to Warsaw, where from 1924 she attended Warsaw Conservatory, studying composition with Kazimierz Sikorski, violin with Józef Jarzabski, and piano with Józef Turczyski. Simultaneously she took up philosophy at Warsaw University - she resigned from this study, however, after one-and-a-half years; she also interrupted her piano classes. In 1932 she graduated from the Conservatory, obtaining two degrees - in violin and in composition. In the same year, thanks to financial aid from Ignacy Jan Paderewski, she received a scholarship to study composition in Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris with Nadia Boulanger (1932-33). She also took private violin lessons from Henri Touret. In 1934 she returned to Paris again to study with the Hungarian violinist Carl Flesch. Her first success as a soloist came in 1935, when she won the 1st distinction in the 1st International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Warsaw. In 1936-38 she worked with the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, organised by Grzegorz Fitelberg, in which she was the leader. Her work in this orchestra allowed her to develop her knowledge of instrumentation. Before World War II she also gave frequent concerts, often with her brother Keystut, a well known pianist, in Lithuania, France, Spain and other countries. Under the German occupation, she gave underground concerts and performed for the Central Council of Social Care (RGO). Aftr the war, she continued giving concerts until 1953, giving recitals in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, the USSR, Romania, Hungary and France. Simultaneously in 1945 she began work in the State Music Conservatory in ?ód?, where she taught theory and the violin. In the later 1950s she dedicated herself almost entirely to composition and teaching. From 1966 till her death, she taught composition in the State Higher Music School in Warsaw (from 1967 as a nominated professor). She frequently sat on the jury of violinist and composer competitions in Liége, Paris, Moscow, Naples, Budapest, Pozna? and Warsaw. In 1955-57 and 1960-69 she was Vice-President of Polish Composers’ Union. In the 1960s, she also wrote several novels and novelettes (still unpublished) and a collection of short stories: Znak szczególny [Birthmark] (“Czytelnik”, Warsaw 1970; 2nd ed. 1974).
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