Musicologist, professor of humanities. She was a long-time employee of the Institute of Musicology at the University of Warsaw (from 1965 to 2003). She also worked in the capacity of the university’s deputy dean at the Faculty of History. She organised a Polish-Italian musicological cooperation between the University of Warsaw and the University of Bologna between 1974 to 1991 and headed the Musica Antiqua Europae Orientalis congresses at the Pomeranian Philharmonic (Filharmonia Pomorska) from 1988 to 2006 (with a seminar in 2014) and the Chopin Congresses in 1999 (as an editor of the materials published in 2003) and 2010 (along with Zofia Chechlińska, as a co-editor of the materials published in 2017). Between 1975 and 1990, Poniatowska headed the Science Council of the Fryderyk Chopin Society, later becoming its Vice-President. She currently works as President of the association Polish Chopin Academy (Polska Akademia Chopinowska) and as Chairwoman of the Programme Council at the Fryderyk Chopin Institute and the Council of the Chopin Festivals in Duszniki, since 2006.

Prof. Irena Poniatowska’s interests concentrate on piano music and piano performance (including Chopin studies), nineteenth-century violin music, musical culture from the Baroque era to the early twentieth century and music reception issues. She has written more than 400 research works. Her non-serial printed publications include Faktura fortepianowa Beethovena [Beethoven’s Piano Texture] (1972, the second edition with an appendix published as Beethoven – Chopin. Podobieństwa w fakturze fortepianowej [Beethoven – Chopin. Similarities in Piano Texture], 2013), Muzyka fortepianowa i pianistyka w wieku XIX. Aspekty artystyczne i społeczne [Piano Music and Piano Performance in the 19th Century. Artistic and Social Aspects] (1991), Historia i interpretacja muzyki [History and Interpretation of Music] (1994, second edition published in 1995), W kręgu recepcji i rezonansu muzyki. Szkice chopinowskie [On Reception and Resonance of Music. Chopin Essays] (2008), the album Chopin 1810 – 2010. Człowiek i jego muzyka / Fryderyk Chopin: The Man and His Music 1810 – 2010 (Polish-English edition published in 2009, Polish-French edition published in 2010), volume 5 Romantyzm. Cz. 2A. Twórczość muzyczna 1850 – 1900 [Romanticism. Part 2A. Musical Works 1850 – 1900] (2010, English version published in 2011) of the series Historia muzyki w Polsce [The History of Music in Poland], Wdzięk afektu – teksty o tempie rubato [The Charm of the Affect. Texts on Tempo Rubato] (2017) and Polska wiolinistyka / Violin in Poland. Violin Antonio Stradivari 1685 «Polonia» (2018). She has edited such publications as the five volumes of Chopin w kręgu przyjaciół [Chopin in His Circle of Friends] (she co-edited its fifth volume with Danièle Pistone, 1995-1999), Chopin w krytyce muzycznej (do I wojny światowej). Antologia [Chopin and His Critics: An Anthology (Up to World War I)] (Polish and English version published in 2011), Jan Ekier ‒ artysta stulecia [Jan Ekier – Artist of the Century] (2013), Chopin w krytyce muzycznej (1918-1939). Antologia [Chopin and His Critics: An Anthology (1918 – 1939)] (2015, English version published in 2016, Polish version published in 2017), Wystawa Powszechna w Paryżu 1900. Autografy polskich kompozytorów [Exposition Universelle in Paris: Autographs of Polish Composers] (edited in 3 languages with Ewa Talma-Davous as co-editor and co-author, 2016), facsimile editions of Fryderyk Chopin’s autograph scores (7 volumes in 6 languages, including 2 with Zofia Chechlińska as co-author), as well as music editions of the compositions by Henryk Wieniawski and Maria Szymanowska. She has also written numerous articles, including encyclopaedic entries, scholarly reviews and popular science works.

Professor Irena Poniatowska is an honorary member of the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna established in 1666, whose members have also included such renowned figures as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gioacchino Rossini. She remains an honorary member of the Polish Composers’ Union and an honorary citizen of the City of Duszniki. In recognition of her achievements, she has been awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Medal of the Commission of National Education and the Gold Medal ‘Gloria Artis’ awarded in 2013, in addition to other orders and medals of distinction.

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