Born in Saarbrücken Rotraut Jäger has been living in Zürich since 2007.
She studied flute at Peter-Cornelius-Konservatorium der Stadt Mainz (State Examined Music Teacher 2000, performance, 2002), at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (performance diploma 2006 with Philippe Racine, jazz studies 2003-2006 with Günter Wehinger and Christoph Grab) and at Manhattan School of Music (jazz studies 2006-2007 with Dick Oatts and Steve Wilson). During her studies Rotraut Jäger participated in workshops and masterclasses i.a. with Peter Lukas Graf, Robert Dick, Michel Debost and Moshe Epstein. Furthermore, she took part in a workshop Música Popular Brasileira in Brasil and had private lessons with i.a. Ali Ryerson, Frank Wess and Dave Liebman in New York.
As a freelance musician she is active with her own projects as well as a sideman at home and abroad. She has performed with i.a. Miles Griffith (voc, US), Earle Davis (tp, US), Roland Gebhard (g, DE), Vicente Cortes (g, CH/ES), Karime Amaya (Flamencotanz, ES) and The Skatalites (JAM). She also works as a private flute teacher and is in charge of various ensembles and workshops.