Born in 1997 in Estonia into a family of musicians, Elizaveta began her musical studies at a very young age. After several years of piano, she turned to the flute at the age of 12. From 2009 to 2014, she studied at the St. Petersburg Music Lyceum under the guidance of Vladimir Ushakov, before continuing her education at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory with professors Olga Chernyadeva and Ksenia Kuelyar. She earned a specialization diploma there in 2021, then enrolled in the soloist master’s program at the Basel Academy of Music (Switzerland) under Professor Felix Renggli, where she graduated with the highest honors in 2023. During her studies in Basel, she was supported by a scholarship from the Lyra Foundation in Zurich.
In 2023, Elizaveta won first prize at the Geneva Competition, also receiving special distinctions such as the Société des Arts Prize, the Souffle Prize, and the Rose-Marie Huguenin Prize. In 2024, she was named a “BBC New Generation Artist,” a two-year program beginning in September. These accolades establish her as one of the most outstanding flute players of her generation.
She has also received awards in several other flute competitions, including the Crusell Flute Competition in Finland, the International Flute Competition in Cluj, Romania, and the Maxence Larrieu Flute Competition in France. She was also a semi-finalist in the Kobe Flute Competition in Japan. With the St. Petersburg Winds wind quintet, she won several prizes in chamber music competitions in Russia.
Elizaveta regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician, collaborating with orchestras such as the Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra, the Meiningen Hofkapelle, and the Frankfurt Philharmonic Orchestra. She also participates in prestigious festivals, including the Ljubljana Music Festival and the Austrian Flute Festival. Her upcoming engagements include collaborations with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, concerts at Wigmore Hall, La Folle Journée de Nantes, the Festival Radio France Montpellier…
Since 2022, Elizaveta Ivanova has been associate principal flutist of the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra. Previously, from 2017 to 2022, she held the same position with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra.
