Viera Polakovičová

PhDr. Viera Polakovičová, PhD. is a Slovak musicologist, music publicist, cultural diplomat, and cultural life organizer.

She studied musicology at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava and later completed her doctoral studies. She worked as a dramaturge at Slovkoncert and as the head of the Music Information Centre of the Slovak Music Fund. For twenty-five years, she was active in cultural diplomacy (UNESCO Paris and Slovak embassies in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin) and in international organizations. In 1990, she co-founded the International Festival Evenings of New Music. Currently, she is active mainly as a music publicist.

Viera Polakovičová is a member of the Slovak Musicological Society, the Syndicate of Slovak Journalists, the Dvořák Society of Great Britain, and the French-Slovak association Découvertes. She is also a member of program committees of festivals, an ex-officio member of IAMIC, EPNM, FICEP, and EUNIC (repeatedly serving as president and vice-president), as well as of curatorial boards (e.g., the German Cultural Forum for Central and Eastern Europe) and other bodies.

Her critical and journalistic activities include contributions to both contemporary and past Slovak and international media such as Akcent, Fontes (IAML proceedings), Hudobný život, Gramorevue, Kultúrny život, Kurier (Austria), Literárny týždenník, Musicologica Slovaca, Národná obroda, Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (Germany), Nové slovo, OPUS, OS, Populár, Pravda, die Presse (Austria), RadioZine, Slovak Music – Slowakische Musik – La musique slovaque – Slovackaja muzyka, Slovenský denník, SME, Telegraf, Televízia, Učiteľské noviny, Večerník, and online platforms such as Opera Slovakia or SME Blog.

he has prepared original programming for Czechoslovak Radio Bratislava, Slovak Radio, BBC London, Radio France, Radio Suisse Romande (Geneva), Radio Twist, Austrian Radio and Television (ORF), Deutschlandfunk, and rbb (Germany). Currently, she regularly writes for Radio Devín and the French section of RTVS.

She has also contributed as a writer to television scripts for Czechoslovak Television in Bratislava, Slovak Television, Markíza Television, Austrian Television (ORF), and has personally hosted some of the broadcasts.

Among her significant scholarly works are Franz Paul Rigler – Sonatas (introductory study and critical edition of the score) in the Early Music Edition (1981), and Franz Paul Rigler in Light of the Latest Research, an extract from her doctoral dissertation published in Musica Slovaca (1985).

Viera Polakovičová is a recipient of the Medal of the City of Paris for her contribution to the development of Slovak–French bilateral relations.