Bernadetta Matuszczak is a Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

 composer. She was born in Toruń

Torun

Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, and studied with Zygmunt Sitowski for music theory and with Irena Kurpisz-Stefanowa for piano at the State Higher School of Music in Pozna

Pózna

Późna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Gubin, within Krosno Odrzańskie County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, close to the German border....

. Later she studied with Tadeusz Szeligowski

Tadeusz Szeligowski

Tadeusz Szeligowski was a Polish composer, educator, lawyer and music organizer. His works include the operas The Rise of the Scholars, Krakatuk and Theodor Gentlemen, the ballets The Peacock and the Girl and Mazepa ballets, two violin concertos, chamber and choral works.As a music teacher he was...

 and Kazimierz Sikorski

Kazimierz Sikorski

Kazimierz Sikorski was a Polish composer.-Biography:Sikorski studied in Warsaw, first music at the Warsaw Conservatory and then philosophy at the University of Warsaw. He then studied in Lwów, which was Polish at the time, and Paris. In 1926, he became a teacher of composition at the Conservatory...

 for composition at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

 (now the F. Chopin Academy of Music). She continued her education in composition with Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. After completing her studies, she worked as a composer. Her works have been performed internationally.

Honors and awards

• Prize from the Young Polish Composers' Competition, Association of Polish Composers (1965)
• Prizes from the Grzegorz Fitelberg Competition for Composers (1966)
• Jeunesses Musicales Competition (1967)
• Prix Italia for radio opera-oratoria (1973, 1979)

Works

Selected works include:

• Septem Tubae, 1969
• Juliet and Romeo, chamber opera, 1972
• Diary of a Fool, opera monodrama, 1976
• Musica da camera per 3 flauti, 4 timpani e 5 tom-toms (1967)
• Humanae voces (1970-71)
• Apocalypsis according to St. John (1976-77)
• Ballet Miniatures for orchestra (1985)
• Notturno - Karol Szymanowski in memoriam in tres partes per cello solo (1987)
• Canticum polonum per archi (1987)
• By Night at the Old Town, pantomime based on Isaac Leib Peretz for solo voices, choir and symphony orchestra (1988)