Shirley Irek was born in Croatia and is now a resident of Atlanta, GA. She was educated at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles and the Juilliard School in New York, where she received her Bachelors' and Masters' Degrees in Piano Performance. She has performed as soloist and chamber musician on 5 continents.

Ms. Irek has taught for almost 30 years. She served as Professor of Piano at the University of Lincoln-Nebraska (1990-1994) where she was also Chair of the Keyboard Department, and as visiting Professor of Piano at the State University of New York in Buffalo (1994-1996). She has lived in Atlanta since 1996 where she maintains a private piano teaching studio. Within this studio she also employs 2 teachers who teach their own roster of students, and Ms. Irek, as Director of the Piano Studio, holds monthly group classes for all of the students.