Irena Jarocka

Irena Wanda Jarocka (18 August 1946 – 21 January 2012), was a Polish singer.

Early life and education

Jarocka was born on 18 August 1946 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.

Career

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 (I am a butterfly, or a 40-year-old's romance), scripted and directed by Jerzy Gruza and Krzysztof Teodor Toeplitz. In the film Jarocka sang her own songs, including "Motylem jestem" ("I am a butterfly") and "Po prostu człowiek" ("Simply a human").