Gośka Isphording – modern harpsichord

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She graduated from the Academy of Music in Cracow and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. She also perfected her skills during master studies in performance and contemporary harpsichord music techniques with Annelie de Man at the Amsterdam Conservatory and with Elżbieta Chojnacka at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Cooperation with such great authorities equipped Isphording with a whole spectrum of performance tools, opening her up to experiments with the sound of the instrument.

The artist specialises in contemporary music performance. Apart from the harpsichord, she also uses voice, electronics, video and synthesizer. She gives solo concerts, and performs with chamber ensembles and orchestras. She also takes an active part in theatre and multimedia projects. She has premiered many pieces of contemporary harpsichord music. Virtuoso style of performance, sensitivity to sound and creativity in the creation of works, in regard to both baroque and contemporary versions of the harpsichord, were appreciated by the greatest composers (e.g. Yannis Kyriakides, Roderik de Man, Agata Zubel, Aleksandra Gryka, Wojciech Ziemowit Zych, Theo Loevendie, Joe Cutler, Pierre Jodlowski, Hanna Kulenty, Dominik Karski, Cezary Duchnowski and Andrzej Kwieciński) who wrote and dedicated their works to her. Concerts composed by Kulenty (“GG Concerto”, 2009) and Kwieciński (“Concerto. Re Maggiore”, 2013) are particularly noteworthy – both works are in perfect harmony with the artist’s performance capabilities and expression.

Gośka Isphording took part in the most significant competitions and festivals of contemporary music in Poland and abroad, e.g. the International Festival of Contemporary Music “Warsaw Autumn”. (Warsaw), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (Huddersfield), The GAIDA Festival (Vilnius), Cutting Edge Festival (London), Festival Internacional de Música Clásica Contemporánea de Lima (Peru), Holland Festival (Amsterdam). From 2011 to 2015, she was Artistic Director of the Harpsichord and Composition Festival and Competition Prix Annelie de Man in Amsterdam, where she is currently a consultant.

She has recorded a solo album with Polish contemporary music “Per Clavicembalo Moderno” (DUX 2008). She has also taken part in monographic records and in many phonographic projects.

Isphording is the founder and member of The Roentgen Connection and Ensemble 306. Since 2014, she has also been a member of The Riot Ensemble (London).

She teaches contemporary harpsichord techniques at the Amsterdam Conservatory, and as a guest lecturer in Zaragoza, Vienna, Brussels, Groningen, Poznań and Warsaw.