IRINA GRUSZKA

BIOGRAPHY:

Irina Gruszka is a flute, piccolo and baroque flute performer.

She was born in Villa Gesell, Argentina, where she began flute studies with Sandra Aquaviva. Irina obtained her Licenciatura (Bachelor) in Flute Performance from Universidad Nacional Cuyo, Argentina, with Professors Lars Nilsson and Beatriz Plana. She continued studies with a Certificate in Flute Performance at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, with Professors Alberto Almarza and Jeanne Baxtresser. In 2014 she obtained her first Master’s degree on 20th Century Latin American Music Interpretation at Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina. Later she ventured into historicist interpretation, and in 2020 obtained a Master’s degree in Baroque Music Interpretation at Escuela Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), Spain, with Professor Marc Hantaï.

Irina has continued her education by taking courses with Lars Nilsson, Felix Renggli, Aurèle Nicolet, Michel Bellavance, Robert Dick, Michel Debost, Kathleen Chastain, Mary Karen Clardy, Margalit Gafni, Anne Jones-Reus, Hernán Jara, Alberto Almarza, Nora Lee García, Jordi Mora, Carol Wincenc, Renato Axelrud, Curt Schroeter, Eva Amsler and Raúl Becerra, among others.

She has obtained grants and scholarships from many organizations in Argentina to pursue advanced studies and research. Among such organizations are the Culture Fund of Mendoza, National Fund for the Arts and National Ministry of Education, FAD Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, and the Science and Technical Secretary of Universidad de Cuyo.

In 2018 she recorded a CD with Ensamble Vientos del Plata titled “Boj y grenadilla. Music for two of eighteenth-century baroque flutes”. This work was funded with a subsidy from INAMU.

As a concerto soloist, Irina has performed with Mendoza Philharmonic Orchestra (Argentina), Universidad de Cuyo Symphony Orchestra (Argentina), Universidad Nacional de Cuyo Youth Orchestra (Argentina), 3 de Febrero Municipal Orchestra (Argentina), Universidad de Guayaquil Instituto Universitario de Música Orchestra (Ecuador), and Loja National Symphony Orchestra (Ecuador)

Since 2004 she has played flute and piccolo at Orquesta Filarmónica de la Provincia de Mendoza (Mendoza Philharmonic Orchestra, Argentina). Her other main orchestral work has been with Universidad de Cuyo Symphony Orchestra (Argentina), Universidad de Concepción Symphony (Chile), and Teatro Argentino de La Plata Orchestra (Argentina)

Irina has participated in various chamber music ensembles with diverse instrumentations, which include “Pan” flute quartet, “Levare” flute and strings quartet, “Kalamos” woodwind quartet, “Alameda” quartet, “Vientos del Plata” two flutes and piano ensemble, “Zeffiro” baroque ensemble and “Violetta Club” baroque ensemble. She performed with these ensembles in the USA, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile and Argentina.

Irina has also taken the role of cultural arts manager, and in this role she has fundraised and produced shows and festivals. Irina produced the musical show “Peter and the Wolf”, bringing children closer to Prokoffiev's music with a wind quintet and narrator where she also played flute and piccolo. She also obtained a subsidy from the Argentine Secretary of Culture to produce the AFROCUYO Festival in Mendoza, Argentina, a Festival of artistic expressions of African roots.

Besides her musical activities, she also enjoys developing her artistic skills in different styles of dances, like tango, contemporary dance, African dances and contact improvisation. She is also a percussionist since 2017 with “Makuru”, an Afro-Guinean percussion and dance group.

Irina has been part of research groups at FAD Universidad de Cuyo. She has also been advisor to many students’ senior thesis at Universidad de Cuyo, and she has been part of the judge panel for Master’s students in the “Master of 20th Century Latin American Music Interpretation” degree at Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina.