(b. 20 October 1943, Lviv).
Polish composer, born in Ukraine and now resident in France, of mostly stage, orchestral, chamber, choral, vocal, and electroacoustic works that have been performed throughout the world.
Ms. Sikora initially studied piano at a music school in Gdańsk from 1951–63. She then studied sound engineering at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where she earned her MA in 1968, and electronic music with François Bayle and Pierre Schaeffer at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris from 1968–70. She later studied composition with Tadeusz Baird and Zbigniew Rudziński at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music and completed a second MA in 1977. She studied composition privately with Betsy Jolas in Paris from 1981–84, as well as computer music at IRCAM in Paris and with John Chowning at Stanford University. She received an honorary doctorate from the Karol Lipiński University of Music in Wrocław in 1999.
Among her honours are Second Prize in a competition in Dresden (1978, for Ariadna), mention in a competition for young composers in Warsaw (1978, for ...selon Pascal I), three prizes in the Concours International de Musique Électroacoustique de Bourges (honourable mention, 1979–80; Prix Magisterium, 2000), Erster Preis in the competition GEDOK in Mannheim (1981, for Guernica, hommage à Pablo Picasso), the Prix de la Partition Pédagogique from SACEM (1994), the Prix Stéphane Chapelier-Clergue-Gabriel-Marie from SACEM (1994), the SACD Prix Nouveau Talent Musique (1996), one class of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Cross of the Knight, 1997), the Heidelberger Künstlerinnenpreis (2000), a special mention from the Académie du Disque Lyrique in Paris (2003, for her recording on Le Chant du Monde), the prize Tempête de l'Année (2012, shared with Anna Mikołajczyk, for Madame Curie), the prize Splendor Gedanensis (2012, for Madame Curie), the prize Gryf from the region of Gdańsk (2012, for Madame Curie), the Orphée d'or de l'Académie du Disque Lyrique in Paris (2013, for the DVD of Madame Curie), the Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland (2013), and the Prix du Président de la République from the Académie Charles-Cros (2024, for her œuvre). She was named a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France in 2004.
She has also held other posts. As a performer, she co-founded with Krzysztof Knittel and Wojciech Michniewski the group of composers KEW in 1973, which was active from 1973–75. She served as artistic director of the festival Musica Electronica Nova in Wrocław from 2011–17.
She taught electroacoustic composition at the Conservatoire du GrandAngoulême Gabriel-Fauré and the École européenne supérieure de l'image à Angoulême from 1985–2008. She also taught composition as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago in 2004 and 2007.
She has lived in France since 1981.
In addition to the works listed below, she has written scores for numerous films.
Her primary publishers are Le Chant du Monde and PWM.
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
Ariadna (opera, libretto by Cesare Pavese [translated by M. S. Kasprzysiak]), soprano, mezzo-soprano, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 2 trombones, 7 violins, 2 cellos, piano, 2 percussion, 1977
Blow-up (ballet), fixed media, 1980
Derrière son double (radio opera, libretto by Jean-Pierre Duprey), soprano, baritone, 4 actors, flute, 2 violins, viola, cello, percussion, fixed media, 1983
Waste Land (ballet, choreography by Alain Marty), fixed media, 1983
L'arrache-cœur (opera, libretto by the composer, after Boris Vian), 3 children's voices, soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, bass, actor, speaker ad libitum, mixed chorus, clarinet, trumpet, 2 violins, viola, cello, percussion, 1984–86, revised 1992
La clef de verre (ballet, choreography by Alain Marty), fixed media, 1986
Madame Curie (opera, libretto by Agata Miklaszewska, adapted by the composer, Gregor Blaustein), 2 children's voices, 11 soli, mixed chorus, dancer, large orchestra (12 winds, 10 brass, harp, electric guitar, accordion, percussion, strings), 2010–11 (also two concert versions of one section: Lamento)
ORCHESTRAL:
Symphonie I, 'Ombres', large orchestra (88 players), 1984, revised 1990
Rappel II, orchestra, live electronics, 1988–89
Canzona, viola da gamba, small orchestra (12 players), 1995
Suite III, 1997
Rappel III, string orchestra, 1998
Ecce Homo, large orchestra (95 players), 1999
Concerto (hommage à Frédéric Chopin), piano, large orchestra (8 winds, 6 brass, harp, 3 percussion, 56 strings), 1999–2000
Michelangelo (concerto), saxophones (1 player), large orchestra (84 players), 2005
Oliwa Concerto, organ, large orchestra (12 winds, 8 brass, harp, 4 percussion, strings), 2007
South Shore (concerto), amplified harp, orchestra (8 winds, 6 brass, 3 percussion, strings), live electronics, 2007–08
Cinq Miniatures, large orchestra (8 winds, 8 brass, harp, percussion, 56 strings), 2013
Sonosphères III & IV Wrocław Symphony, large orchestra (8 winds, 8 brass, harp, piano, 3 percussion, 56 strings), live electronics, 2017
Concerto, violin, orchestra (8 winds, 6 brass, harp, piano, 3 percussion, strings), 2018
Przejście podziemne – Underground Passage, orchestra (8 winds, 6 brass, harp, piano, 3 percussion, strings), fixed media, 2019
Sonosphère V Wanda Landowska, electric guitar, orchestra (8 winds, 6 brass, harp, piano, 3 percussion, strings), 2019
Liquid Air, orchestra (8 winds, 6 brass, 3 percussion, strings), 2021
II Organ Concerto, organ, orchestra (8 winds, 8 brass, percussion, strings), 2022
Overture, orchestra (8 winds, 7 brass, harp, 3 percussion, strings), 2023
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Interventions, tuba, 2 percussion, fixed media, 1969
I Quatuor à cordes, string quartet, 1975
Voyage No. 1, tuba/double bass, live electronics, 1975
...selon Pascal I, trumpet, harp, cello, harpsichord, 1976
Interludes, flute, harp, 1980
Sables, flute, percussion, 1980
II Quatuor à cordes, string quartet, 1980
Voyage No. 3, flute, 1981
La tête d'Orphée II, flute, fixed media, 1982
Eine kleine Tagmusik, flute, alto saxophone, bassoon, harp, violin, cello, piano, 1983
Solo, violin, 1984
Suite I, cello, fixed media, 1990
Sextuor à cordes, hommage à Witold Lutosławski, 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, 1993
Thinking of Brahms, string quartet, 1997
Lisboa, tramway 28, soprano saxophone (+ alto saxophone), fixed media, 1998
III Quatuor à cordes, 'In memoriam Ursula', string quartet, 1999
...selon Pascal II, trumpet, harp, cello, harpsichord, 2000
Axe rouge IV, ensemble, fixed media, 2002
Axe rouge, saxophones (1 player), double bass, fixed media, 2004
Axe rouge II, saxophones (1 player), percussion, fixed media, 2007
Titane, double bass, 2007
Axe rouge III, saxophones (1 player), fixed media, 2008
Cadenza, cello, 2011
Happy Valenciennes, ensemble of saxophones, fixed media, 2012
Sonosphère I Twilling, oboe, ensemble (2 violins, viola, cello, double bass), live electronics, 2013
Sonosphère II My'Kaddisch, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), ensemble (2 violins, viola, cello, double bass), 2015
Soleos, violin, live electronics, 2019
Trio 3x1=5, flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), violin, cello, 2022
CHORAL:
Guernica, hommage à Pablo Picasso (text by Paul Éluard), mixed chorus, 1975
La création du monde (oratorio, text from the Bible), soprano, tenor, 2 baritones, male chorus, flute, clarinet, bassoon, electric guitar, electronic organ, 4 percussion, string orchestra, 1976
Salve Regina, children's chorus, organ, 1981
Génèse (oratorio, text from the Bible), soprano, male speaker, mixed chorus, small orchestra, fixed media, 1986
Chant'Europe (text by the composer), 3 children's choruses, small orchestra, 1993
Cinéma, cinéma (text by the composer), children's chorus, small orchestra, 1994
Omnia tempus habent (oratorio, text from the Bible), alto, children's chorus, mixed chorus, organ, orchestra, 1997
Maître renard et maître corbeau / Le laboureur et ses enfants (text by Jean de La Fontaine), children's chorus, flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, violin, double bass, percussion, 1999
Trois innocentines (text by René de Obaldia), mixed chorus, 2001
The Sixth Commandment (texts by prisoners from the Majdanek concentration camp, Grzegorz Kwiatkowski, Ahmatjan Osman), 4 female voices, flute, cello, percussion, live electronics, 2022
Tenebræ, tenor, mixed chorus, orchestra (8 winds, 6 brass, 3 percussion, strings), 2023
VOCAL:
Les chants réjouissant le cœur (texts from ancient sources from Egypt), soprano, flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, cello, 1973 (also version for soprano, flute, harpsichord, 1983)
Loreley (text by Guillaume Apollinaire), soprano/mezzo-soprano, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 1987
À peine le temps que dure une vision (text by Jorge Hernández), soprano, female speaker, clarinet, trumpet, double bass, percussion, fixed media, 1987–89
Le chant de Salomon, soprano, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, percussion, 1992
On the Line (text by the composer), soprano, fixed media, 1992
Fragments (text by Jorge Hernández), soprano, fixed media, 1997
On est toujours (text by Alain de Castries), baritone, piano, 1997 (also version for 2 sopranos, baritone, alto saxophone, double bass, piano, bandoneón, 1997)
Eine Rose als Stütze (text by Hilde Domin), soprano, piano, 2000
Lamento, soprano, piano, 2015 (concert version of section of Madame Curie; also concert version for soprano, large orchestra [12 winds, 10 brass, harp, electric guitar, percussion, strings], 2018)
PIANO:
Prelude, 1981
Reflets irisés, piano, fixed media, 2005
Alla breve, 2007
Instants fugitifs, 2019
ORGAN:
Short Stories, 2001
HARPSICHORD:
Suite II, harpsichord, fixed media, live electronics, 1992 (also version for harpsichord, fixed media, 1992)
CARILLON:
Running North, 2020
ELECTROACOUSTIC:
Prénom, fixed media, 1970
La vue par la fenêtre, fixed media, 1971
L'incertitude de l'été, fixed media, 1973
Voyage No. 2, fixed media, 1976
La nuit, le visage contre le ciel, fixed media, 1978
Rapsodie pour la mort d'une république, fixed media, 1979
The Waste Land, fixed media, 1979
Lettres à M., fixed media, 1980
La tête d'Orphée I, fixed media, 1981
Janek Wiśniewski – Decembre-Pologne, fixed media, 1982–83
Géométries variables, fixed media, 1991
Les Enfants terribles, fixed media, 1992
Flashback, fixed media, 1996
Aquamarina, fixed media, 1999
Grain de sable, fixed media, 2002
Rouge d'été, fixed media, 2002
Axe rouge V, fixed media, 2008
Chicago al fresco, fixed media, 2009
Trois tunnels et un arrêt, fixed media, 2016
Paris, Gare du Nord, fixed media, 2017
Norwid'Elipsa, fixed media, 2021
RADIO PRODUCTIONS:
Passion selon Kijno, fixed media, 1986
Portrait de Witold Lutosławski, fixed media, 1993 (collaboration with Krystyna de Obaldia)
Eine Rose als Stütze – Hörspiel, fixed media, 2002
DISCOGRAPHY
Voyage No. 1. Zdzisław Piernik, tuba (Pro Nova) (LP)
Trio 3x1=5. Jan Krzeszowiec, flute, piccolo, alto flute; Szymon Krzeszowiec, violin; Adam Krzeszowiec, cello (Accord)
Happy Valenciennes. (Art Zoyd Studio)
La tête d'Orphée I; Aquamarina. (Le Chant du Monde: LDC 278 070/71)
Eine Rose als Stütze; Rappel III; Canzona; Solo; Le chant de Salomon. Maria Bulgakova, Olga Lutsiev-Ternovskaya, sopranos; Alexander Kalashkov, violin; Alla Vasilyeva, viola da gamba; Mikhail Dubov, piano; Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble; Jean Thorel/strings of the Rossysky Natsionaly Orkestr (Le Chant du Monde: LDC 278 1118)
Grain de sable. (Le Chant du Monde: LDC 278 1122/23)
Reflets irisés. (DUX Recording Producers: 0679)
South Shore. (DUX Recording Producers: 0713)
Madame Curie. (DUX Recording Producers: 9884) (DVD)
Axe rouge V; Chicago al fresco. (INA: 66050/59)
Lisboa, tramway 28; Janek Wiśniewski – Decembre-Pologne. Daniel Kientzy, saxophones (INA/GRM: 5011 275 84)
Sonosphères III & IV Wrocław Symphony. (NFM)
Ariadna. Ewa Ignatowicz, soprano; Lidia Juranek, mezzo-soprano; Jacek Kasprzyk/orchestra of the Warszawska Opera Kameralna (Polskie Nagrania: SX 1778)
La tête d'Orphée II. Jolanta Kotnowska, flute (Polskie Nagrania: SX 2739)
Rappel II. Wojciech Michniewski/Filharmonia Poznańska (Polskie Nagrania: SX 2858)