Roman Baranskiy is a Bay Area based composer, teacher, and instrumentalist. Born and raised in Ukraine, he moved to California at the age of 16 after his love for lyricism was formed by Ukrainian folklore and landscapes. By blending styles and borrowing from other genres such as Jazz and Electronica, he creates music that is dynamic and vibrant. He has earned his B.M. and M.M in Music Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he won the International Shanghai Chamber Competition for his string quartet, “Amphithymia”.
His music explores varied themes in psychology, geometry, and art, including palindromes, tension, illness, structures, nature, and the human experience. His orchestral piece, “Birds Landing” which explores the murmurations of birds as they ebb and flow, has won first place in the International Conductor Union competition and the 2020 CAPMT Commissioned Composer competition, the silver medal in the Global Music Awards, and was a finalist in the Oscar Navarro International Composer Competition, as well as semifinalist in the American Prize Contest. The world premiere of Birds Landing is scheduled to take place at the Odessa National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet in February 2022.
His composition process is one of exploration and discovery. One such piece is Aura, commissioned by CAPMT and scored for electric guitar, flute, and vibraphone, which has received an Honorable Mention by the Tribeca New Music Board of Directors in 2020.