Maciej Łukaszczyk (11 March 1934,

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

– 4 June 2014,

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

) was a Polish

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Life

Łukaszczyk was born in the capital city of Poland, Warsaw, in March 1934. During the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he and his twin brother Jacek Łukaszczyk (1934–2013) were engrossed with the music of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. In the '50s, he studied at the Higher State School of Music in Warsaw. His professors were Margerita Trombini-Kazuro, Zbigniew Drzewiecki, and Jan Ekier. Later he studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna under Hans Kann. He became intensely interested in the music of

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

. In Inland and abroad, he became an interpreter of Chopin. In 1966, Łukaszczyk arrived in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

, and initially worked there as a

Répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...

at the

Landestheater Darmstadt The Staatstheater Darmstadt (Darmstadt State Theatre) is a theatre company and building in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany, presenting opera, ballet, plays and concerts. It is funded by the state of Hesse and the city of Darmstadt. Its history began in ...

. In 1970, he founded the Chopin-Gesellschaft in Darmstadt, of whom he was president for 44 years. The Chopin-Gesellschaft organized concerts, piano competitions, and master courses of the supraregional music of Chopin. Łukaszczyk persistently campaigned for comprehension between Poland and Germany. He died in 2014, and was buried at the cemetery in

Poronin Poronin , is a village in southern Poland; from 1999 it formed part of Tatra County of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (it was previously in Nowy Sącz Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998). It lies approximately north-east of Zakopane and south of the r ...

Distinctions

* 1991: Tribute for

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

* 1999:

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland () is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident abroad. As such, it is sometimes referred to as ...

* 2004: Johann-Heinrich-Merck-Distinction of the city Darmstadt

References

External links

Maciej Lukaszczyk died.
obituary in regional newspaper Darmstädter Echo 5. June 2014 (German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lukaszczyk, Maciej Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland 20th-century Polish pianists 1934 births 2014 deaths Musicians from Warsaw Polish people of World War II