Kaja Draksler (born February 6, 1987) is a Slovenian jazz and classical pianist and composer from Kranj. After graduating from the Ljubljana High School of Music in 2005, Draksler studied jazz piano at the Prince Claus Conservatory in Groningen (2009) and composition at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam under Richard Ayres (2013). Her early career included co-founding the Acropolis Quintet (2005) and the BadBooshBand. In 2007, Draksler composed for the European Movement Jazz Orchestra and wrote the concert Orpheus and Eurydice, premiered by the Slovenian Philharmonic. Her discography includes Akropola (2008), The Lives of Many Others (2013), and This Love (2016) with Susana Santos Silva. Her music combines jazz and classical modernism with elements of Balkan and Slovenian folk music. Draksler received the Deloitte Jazz Award in 2009 and the 2022 German Jazz Prize with her trio Punkt.Vrt.Plastik.
