Born in 1997 in Estonia into a family of musicians, Elizaveta Ivanova began her musical training at an early age, first studying the piano before taking up the flute at 12. From 2009 to 2014, she studied at the St Petersburg Musical Lyceum with Vladimir Ushakov, before continuing her studies at the St Petersburg State Conservatory with Olga Chernyadeva and Ksenia Kuelyar. She completed her specialist diploma there in 2021, then joined the soloist master’s programme at the Basel Academy of Music, studying with Felix Renggli and graduating with highest honours in 2023. During her time in Basel, she received a scholarship from the Lyra Foundation in Zürich.
In 2023, Ivanova won First Prize at the Geneva International Music Competition, also receiving the Société des Arts Prize, Souffle Prize and Rose-Marie Huguenin Prize. In 2024, she was named a BBC New Generation Artist. These accolades established her as one of the leading flute players of her generation. She has also received prizes at the Crusell International Flute Competition in Finland, Cluj International Music Competition in Romania and Maxence Larrieu International Flute Competition in France, and was a semi-finalist at the Kobe International Flute Competition in Japan. As a member of the wind quintet St Petersburg Winds, she has also won prizes at chamber music competitions in Russia.
Ivanova performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician. Recent highlights include engagements with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic, as well as performances at Wigmore Hall, the Bath Mozartfest, La Folle Journée de Nantes and Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier. She has also appeared with orchestras such as the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra, Meininger Hofkapelle and Frankfurt Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since 2022, Ivanova has been Associate Principal Flute of the Frankfurt Opern- und Museumsorchester. From 2017 to 2022, she held the same position with the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra.
