Nikodem Biernacki
Nikodem Biernacki was a Polish musician, violinist, concertmaster, composer, and music teacher. He was born in Ternopil on September 1, 1825 or 1826. His father gave him his first music lessons. He later studied with Tonini, a conductor employed by Count Konstanty Przezdziecki, and at the Leipzig Conservatory with Moritz Hauptmann and Ferdinand David. In Paris, he studied with Louis Spohr and Heinrich Ernst.
Biernacki played in a military orchestra in Chernivtsi and then in the orchestra of the Skarbek Theatre in Lviv. He went to Warsaw in 1851. He began performing as a virtuoso while still a student and gave concerts in France, Germany, the Russian Empire, Sweden, Belgium, and America. From 1854, he was concertmaster of the Warsaw Grand Theatre and a soloist with the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In 1863–64, he served as court violinist to Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, then spent 15 years as concertmaster at the Swedish court.
After returning to his homeland, Biernacki taught in Poznan and founded a music school there in 1879. He later worked as a professor of music at the Jesuit Higher School in Khyriv. He wrote instrumental and vocal music, including violin works, songs, and chamber music; most of his compositions were unpublished during his lifetime. He died in Sanok on May 6, 1892, and was buried in the city’s central cemetery.