flautist; b. 18th August 1957 in Warsaw. She began her musical education at the age of ten. For eight years she played three instruments: flute, violin and piano. In 1978 she graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, where she studied flute with Elżbieta Dastych-Szwarc. In 1978-84 she mastered her skills under Maestro Aurele Nicolet in Switzerland, Jean-Pierre Rampal and Alain Marion in France.
She is a laureate of top prizes in seven international contests, including the Silver Medal at the G.B. Viotti Competition in Vercelli (1976), the third prize and special prize for the best interpretation of French music at the Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona (1978), the first prize at the Elaine Schaffer Competition in Belveglio (1978), the first prize at the Flute Competition in Formia (1979), the second prize and special prize for the interpretation of the Sonatina by Boulez at the Queen Sofia Music Competition in Madrid (1979), the third prize at the V. Bucchi Competition in Rome (1980), and the Gold Medal and Grand Prix at the Young Soloists' Festival in Bordeaux (1983).
She gave concerts at such venues as the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Lincoln Center in NYC, the Tivoli Hall in Copenhagen, the Grieg Hall in Bergen (at the Bergen International Festival), the Palau de Musica in Barcelona, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Purcell Room in London, De Doelen in Rotterdam, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Warsaw Philharmonic and at international festivals, including the Bergen Festival-Grieg, the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival (Finland), KLCC in Kuala Lumpur, the Warsaw Autumn, the Festivals of World Premieres in Katowice, the Krzysztof Penderecki Festival in Kraków or the Mozart Festival in Warsaw.
Jadwiga Kotnowska's repertoire includes solo, chamber and orchestral works from the Baroque era to contemporary music. In her native Poland she is usually the soloist of choice for premieres of flute concertos of contemporary composers such as Krzesimir Dębski (1998), Aleksander Szczetyński (1999), Mikołaj Górecki (2005, 2017), Maciej Małecki (2006), Piotr Wróbel (2008), Marta Ptaszyńska (2008), Dariusz Przybylski (2009), Jerzy Maksymiuk (2010), Krzysztof Knittel (2013), Pavel Klimahevsky (2013), Hanna Kulenty (2019). The artist performed compositions written especially for her with such orchestras as the National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, the National Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the Aukso Chamber Orchestra led by Marek Moś. She was the first Polish flutist to perform Henryk Mikołaj Górecki's flute concerto (with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Moscow Philharmonic) and the Krzysztof Penderecki's flute concerto conducted by the composer. She also gave concerts with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon under Claudio Schimone and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders in Antwerp.
Jadwiga Kotnowska also participates in 'crossover' projects blending classical music and jazz, working together with acclaimed jazzmen such as Andrzej Jagodziński, Krzysztof Herdzin, Mike Richmond and Vitold Rek.
She has been recording for the radio in Spain, France, Switzerland, Holland, USA, and for the record labels: Polskie Nagrania, MDG, Quantum (Paris), Scotstown Music (Edynburgh), Tonpress, DUX.
The artist is a professor at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. She has been giving master classes in the USA, Malaysia, Finland, Italy, France and at the Royal College of Music in London.
updated: 2020 (ac)
Artist's website: www.jadwigakotnowska.com
