She was a Prima donna in the Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet, and performed in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Prague, and many other European cities during her long and storied career.

[2] When Irena was six, her father was appointed catechist of the Teaching Seminary in Zalishchyky (Заліщики), where he was provided with a separate house located near the Dniester river.

Here Irena enrolled as a pupil in the gymnasium of the Basilian Sisters, where besides school, she took piano lessons, and Stanyslav Lyudkevych (Станіслав Людкевич) taught her music theory.

This opera was staged at the "Ukrainian Discourse Theatre" (Театр Української Бесіди) by Yosyp Stadnyk (Стадник, Йосип Дмитрович) on the occasion of the centenary of the composer's birthday.

Writer Zinovy Knysh writes in his memoirs about the musical life of Lviv, and that in 1929 Irena organized a theatrical group in her father's house and put on plays: "The Sin" by Volodymyr Vynnychenko, and "The Fires Of St. John" by Hermann Sudermann.

[8] In the spring of 1930, her first solo concert was held, at which Irena performed arias, of Gorislava from the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Glinka, of Cio-Cio-san from Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, several romances, and Ukrainian folk songs.

From 1942 to 1944, she sang these roles in the following operas: In the summer of 1943, Irena, along with the coloratura soprano Nina Shevchenko and the baritone Mikhail Olkhov, did a large concert tour of the cities and villages of Galicia.

These collectives put on, along with other works, the operas: Natalka Poltavka (Наталка Полтавка) by Mykola Lysenko, and Drowned (Утоплена) a lyric-fantastic opera again by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko, the libretto written by the Ukrainian writer and playwright Mykhailo Starytsky[12] from Nikolai Gogol's story May Night from the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka.

On January 28, 1946, in the camp for displaced persons located near Augsburg, Germany an organization called "The Association of Ukrainian Stage Artists" (Об’єднання мистців української сцени) was created, and Irena was on the board, along with: V. Blavatsky, Y. Barnych, E. Kuril, S. Kryzhanivsky and T. Fedorovich.

In 1960, Irena became very active working with children's opera in Winnipeg at the Canadian-Ukrainian Institute Prosvita, on Pritchard Avenue and Arlington Street, in the city's North-End.

[13] Her musical company rehearsed at The Ukrainian National Home Association building on McGregor St. and Burrows Ave.[14] Her very presence attracted a talented group of musicians, choreographers, and set and costume people.

[15]Koza Dereza, a Children's operetta by Mykola Lysenko, will be presented by the women's council of the Ukrainian Canadian Committee May 28 at the Playhouse Theatre.

In 1967, her musical troupe traveled from Winnipeg by train to Montreal to perform Koza Dereza at the International and Universal Exposition (Expo 67) which was also being held to celebrate Canada's centennial year.

[22] Russell Mychajluk (Mitchell), who played the rabbit in Koza Dereza, went on to write and produce music for the pop charts, for television, and for theatre.