Irena Grafenauer (born 19 June 1957 in Ljubljana, Slovenia) is a Slovenian flute player and soloist, a pupil of Boris Čampa, Karlheinz Zöller and Aurèle Nicolet.
Irena Grafenauer born to father Stanko Grafenauer, a geologist, and to mother Magdalena Grafenauer. She started her musical education at the age of 8. After graduating from the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in 1974, she continued her studies with Karlheinz Zöller and Aurèle Nicolet. She won First Prize in three international competitions: in Belgrade (1974), Geneva (1978) and Munich (1979).[1] From 1977 to 1987 she was principal flautist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Rafael Kubelik and Colin Davis. In October 1987 she was appointed Professor at the Salzburg Mozarteum. She has successfully toured most European countries, the United States, Japan, and Australia as a soloist. She has performed regularly at Gidon Kremer’s Lockenhaus Festival since 1981 and toured extensively with ”Kremer & Friends”.
In 2003, she was bestowed the golden order of freedom by the then President of Slovenia Janez Drnovšek for her achievements. At the same time, she also fell ill for chronic myeloid leukemia, a type of white blood cell cancer.[3] She contributed significantly to the promotion of bone marrow transplantation in Slovenia.[4]
Irena Grafenauer was also awarded a number of accolades for her endeavours in Slovenia: in 2004, she became the Slovene Woman of the Year (as selected by readers of the magazine Jana), she was bestowed an honorary doctorate by the University of Ljubljana, she became an honorary citizen of Ljubljana and an honorary member of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and she was awarded the Prešeren Award for lifetime achievement in 2005.[5]
