Irena Jarocka


Irena Wanda Jarocka, was a Polish singer.

Career

Education

Jarocka was born in Srebrna Góra, Poland. She graduated from the V Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Stefana Żeromskiego, and the faculty of music studies at Średnia Szkoła Muzyczna in Gdańsk, studying under professor Halina Mickiewiczówna. She later graduated from a Faculty of Biology at a teachers’ college. Between 1969 and 1973 she lived in Paris on a scholarship, studying at Le Petit Conservatoire de la Chanson.

Music

Jarocka participated in amateur singing competitions, and worked with Zespół Estradowy Marynarki Wojennej Flotylla. In 1966, at 20 years old, she debuted at Klub Rudy Kot in Gdańsk, and first participated in the Krajowy Festiwal Piosenki Polskiej in Opole. She also performed at the Sopot Festival. She recorded albums for the Philips label and performed in concerts with Michel Sardou, Enrico Macias, Charles Aznavour, and Mireille Mathieu. She sang outside Poland, in such countries as Germany, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, Luxembourg, Australia and France, and for Polish communities in the US and Canada. She worked with Polanie, Czerwone Gitary, Budka Suflera, and Exodus.)

Film and television

Jarocka acted with Andrzej Kopiczyński in the film adaptation of Motylem jestem, czyli romans 40-latka, scripted and directed by Jerzy Gruza and Krzysztof Teodor Toeplitz. In the film Jarocka sang her own songs, including "Motylem jestem" and "Po prostu człowiek".
Her performances and programs were recorded for Telewizja Polska stations in Gdańsk, Łódź, Poznań, Wrocław, Katowice, and Warsaw, including Irena Jarocka zaprasza, Irena Jarocka i jej goście, Spotkanie z gwiazdą, Mężczyzna na niepogodę, Największe przeboje Ireny Jarockiej, Zwariowany dzień, and Bo wszystko jest piosenką francuską. She also took part in Muzyka łączy pokolenia on TVP3.
In 2006, in the US, she took part in the Amerykańskie Rozmowy w toku with Ewa Drzyzga. The show dealt with famous Poles trying to make a living abroad.

Later life

From 1990 she lived in the United States with her second husband, Michael Sobolewski, whom she married in 1989 while being in relationship from 1976 for 35 years till her last day. Her daughter with Sobolewski, Monika Sobolewska was born in Poland in 1982 and graduated from Texas Tech University in art-communication design. Jarocka was performing continuously in the States and European countries. Her first marriage, to Marian Zacharewicz, was dissolved. She maintained continuous ties with her public in Poland while living periodically in Warsaw during her frequent concert tours there. In 2007, she published an autobiographical novel, She died, aged 65, in Warsaw, from brain cancer.

Awards

Albums