A French-Polish composer born October 20, 1943 in Lwow.
A pianist by training and a sound engineer, Elzbieta Sikora studied electro-acoustic music at the GRM with Pierre Schaeffer and François Bayle (1968-1970) and then studied composition at the Warsaw Conservatory with Tadeusz Baird and Zbigniew Rudzinski (1972-1977). She obtained an MA for her research into ‘New vocal techniques in the music of the twentieth century’, took further classes in composition and analysis with Betsy Jolas and took part in computer music courses at Ircam and at the CCRMA (Center for Computer Research for Music and Acoustics) at the University of Stanford (USA). Elzbieta Sikora has composed in all genres, with a preference for the voice and mixed music. Poetry, painting and architecture, as well as the music of Beethoven, Vivaldi, Debussy, Bartok, Stravinsky and Lutoslawski are among her sources of inspiration. In her works, among which should be noted Guernica, hommage à Pablo Picasso (1975), La tête d'Orphée II (1982), L'arrache-cœur (1992), Flashback (1996) and her latest opera Madame Curie (2011), she attaches as much importance to expressivity as to form. Elzbieta Sikora combines skilful narration, a mastery of orchestration and a profound sense of lyricism. From 1985 to 2008 she taught electro-acoustics and composition at the Angoulême Conservatory and since 2011 has been artistic director of the festival Musica Electronica Nova in Wroclaw, Poland.
