On April 1, 2026, the Chicago Philharmonic presented the U.S. premiere of Liquid Air (2021) by Polish composer Elżbieta Sikora. The performance took place at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building in Chicago and was conducted by Scott Speck, the orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Director.
Liquid Air was commissioned by the Warsaw Autumn Festival and reflects Sikora’s long-standing engagement with both instrumental and electroacoustic music. After studying sound engineering in Warsaw, Sikora continued her education in Paris at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales with Pierre Schaeffer and François Bayle, and later at Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) with John Chowning, as well as at IRCAM in Paris. She subsequently completed composition studies in Warsaw with Tadeusz Baird and Zbigniew Rudziński, and in Paris with Betsy Jolas. Since 1981, she has lived in France while maintaining professional connections to Poland.
From the program note for Liquid Air:
“Uncertainty, transience, interpenetration. Air transforms from liquid to gaseous state; captured in this moment of change, it assumes a new form – mysterious, unstable, in motion.
The work opens with a low sonority. Around it, a dense orchestral texture gradually accumulates, pierced by brief high-register woodwind gestures that enter like sudden gusts of air. This interplay of opposites – weight and lightness, density and breath – defines the first section, slow and contemplative in character.
The second section introduces contrast and propulsion. Rapid string passages form the structural backbone of the music, undergoing continuous transformation and set against sharp brass accents. A quieter, more delicate episode follows, recalling earlier material before rhythmic intensity returns. The section culminates in an ascending progression that flows through the orchestral groups, creating a sense of expansion and release.
The third section opens with a subdued motif that functions as a leitmotif. Fragments from earlier sections reappear as echoes or recollections – never fully restated, but transformed, refracted, and reshaped. The work closes not with resolution, but with an evolving resonance – an atmosphere suspended between states.
– Elżbieta Sikora
Perhaps it’s best to hear about this piece directly from the mouth of the composer. Check out the video interview between Scott Speck (conductor) and Elżbieta Sikora below:
U.S. Premiere of Sikora’s ‘Liquid Air’ in Chicago – Polish Music Center
The concert also featured Camille Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3, performed by violinist Njioma Chinyere Grevious, the Chicago Philharmonic’s Artist in Residence. Grevious has received several distinctions, including the 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant and First Prize at the Sphinx Competition.
Source: instytutpolski.pl and https://polishmusic.usc.edu
