It is with deep sadness that we would like to inform you that Jerzy Klocek, an outstanding cellist and our long-time concertmaster, has passed away. He was associated with Sinfonia Varsovia and the Polish Chamber Orchestra from 1982 to 2011.
– He has an extraordinary sensitivity and sense of aesthetics. I have never heard a distorted or exaggerated phrase from him, and I have listened to him so much while conducting or being a listener. He has an extraordinary imagination that allows him to create colorful, vibrant music. Extraordinary freedom, but controlled; not by the mind, but by the intuition God has given him! – This is what Jerzy Maksymiuk said about Jerzy Klocek in one of his interviews.
Jerzy Klocek (born December 26, 1940) was a graduate of the State Higher School of Music in Cracow in the class of Józef Mikulski. Immediately after graduation, he became a soloist and concertmaster of the Polish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra in Cracow, and later of the Polish Chamber Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia.
As a member of the Polish Chamber Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia, he performed in several thousand concerts in Poland and abroad, under the direction of the most eminent Polish and foreign conductors, including Jacek Kaspszyk, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Krzysztof Penderecki, Jerzy Semkow, Yehudi Menuhin, Charles Dutoit and Lorin Maazel on the stages of Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Barbican Hall in London, Tokyo International Forum, accompanying soloists of such stature as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Maxim Vengerov, Augustin Dumay and Martha Argerich. He recorded around 250 albums with this ensemble.
As a soloist, he has performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall, Festival van Vlaanderen, Edinburgh Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. As a chamber musician, he has performed with Yehudi Menuhin, Augustin Dumay, Gerard Causse, Boris Pergamenschikow, Nigel Kennedy, among others.
He collaborated with The Masterplayers orchestra in Lugano, and was a member of the Baroque Trio (with Elżbieta Stefańska and Barbara Świątek), the Wawel Trio (with Kaja Danczowska and Jerzy Łukowicz), Polish Trio (with Wanda Wiłkomirska and Andrzej Ratusiński), the MW2 contemporary music ensemble (with Adam Kaczyński, Marek Mietelski, Jan Peszek, Mikołaj Grabowski), and performed in duets with Halina Czerny-Stefańska and Krystian Zimerman.
He was awarded the Bronze Medal for “Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis” (2023).
Jerzy Klocek’s last farewell will take place on September 9 at 11:00 AM at the Salwator Cemetery in Cracow.
To his family and loved ones we extend our heartfelt condolences.
Photo: Sinfonia Varsovia website. Jerzy Klocek’s last concert with Sinfonia Varsovia, held as part of the Sinfonia Varsovia to Its City Festival. Warsaw, September 1, 2011.
