Pstrokońska-Nawratil, Grażyna

Born in Wrocław, she graduated from the composition class of Tadeusz Natanson at Wrocław’s State High School of Music in 1971. In 1978 on a scholarship from the French government, she attended lectures by Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire, Pierre Boulez at IRCAM, and Iannis Xenakis’s seminars in Aix-en-Provence. She was also an intern at the Experimental Music Studio in Marseilles.

Since 1977 she has run a composition class at the Music Academy in Wrocław, and in 1998–2009 also at the Music Academy in Poznań. Her alumni now play important roles in Polish modern music. From 1991, she has run the Chair of Composition and Music Theory at the Music Academy in Wrocław where she became a professor in 1993.

In 1994–97, she was a member of the Programme Committee of the Warsaw Autumn Festival, and in 1996–2008 was the programme advisor and artistic director of the Musica Polonica Nova Festival in Wrocław.

Her compositional accolades include awards at the Grzegorz Fitelberg Competition (1971), GEDOK Competition in Mannheim (1975), and the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris (1987), as well as Wrocław Music Prize (2002), Polish Composers’ Union Prize (2004), Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Prize for music (2006), and the Gloria Artis Silver Medal (2013).

Selected works: Fresco I – Reanimation for large symphony orchestra (1972), Nocturne for cello and prepared piano (1973), Ostinato for percussion ensemble (1974), Fresco II – Epitaphios for large symphony orchestra (1975), Canon for four percussions and piano (1976), Studio for violin and tam-tam (1977), Fresco III – Icarus for large symphony orchestra (1979), La vetrata for piano (1979), Arabesque for string quartet (1980), Eco for two flutes (1980), Fresco IV – Concerto alla campana Tadeusz Baird in memoriam for piano and symphony orchestra (1982), BIS-JOKE for percussion and piano (1985), Restless Songs for baritone and orchestra (1985), Cycle Ecomusic – Landscape with a Dipper for soprano and three violins (1986), Fresco V – Éternel for soprano, boys’ choir, mixed choir and large symphony orchestra (1987), In The Kingdom of Autumn Leaves for orchestra, ballet for children (1989), Cycle Ecomusic – Le soleil, concerto for percussion and orchestra (1991), Triangle! for percussion group (1992), Fresco VI – Palindrome for string orchestra and amplified harpsichord (1994), Lydian Quartet – Thinking About Andrzej for string quartet (1994), Cycle Ecomusic – Terra for male choir and piano (1995), Bartokiana for two cellos and piano (1995; rev. for marimbaphone and chamber orchestra, 2000; for flute, violin, viola and cello, 2015), ...el Condor... Thinking of Vivaldi – Spring, concerto for two marimbas and chamber orchestra (1996), Fresco VII – Uru Anna for tenor, large mixed choir and large symphony orchestra (1998–99), Madrigal I – In Search for Fleeing Echoes for two violins (2000), Madrigal II – An Algorithm of A Big City’s Sleep for marimba (2001), Lydian Music for string orchestra (2002), Magnificat MM for soprano, mixed choir and large symphony orchestra (2005), Madrigal III – Birds on the Horizon of Dusk for clarinet, trombone, cello and piano (2006), Cycle Ecomusic – Streamlet and Sun for encrusted piano (2007), ...como el sol e la mar... Thinking of Vivaldi – Summer for flute and chamber orchestra (2007), Reportage I – Palm Sunday in Nazareth for saxophone, percussion and organ (2009), Reportage III – ICE-LAND. Rainbow Bridges over Dettifoss for chamber orchestra (2011), Madrigal for two pianos (2011), HARMONIES for symphony orchestra (2011), Cycle Ecomusic – Rain Forest for two flutes and symphony orchestra (2013), Reportage II – Figures on the Sand for flute, violin, viola and cello (2014), Cycle Ecomusic – Galakticos α for flute and organ (2015).