Ukraine-born Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad is a pianist and collaborator with a flourishing career on both sides of the Atlantic. Before deciding to pursue a career as a collaborative pianist, she won top prizes at international piano and chamber music competitions, including the International Competition for Young Pianists (Belgrade, Serbia), the Sergei Taneyev International Chamber Ensemble Competition (Kaluga, Russia), first prize with the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra Competition and national finalist two times in the MTNA Young Artist Competition, winning 3rd prize in 2011.

As a collaborative pianist, Kseniia has worked with opera and vocal music organizations across the U.S, including West Edge Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Long Beach Opera, Cincinnati Song Initiative, and Queen City Opera. This past summer Kseniia was a rehearsal pianist, onstage pianist and Russian diction coach for “The Queen of Spades” at Des Moines Metro Opera and she held a staff pianist position at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute.

Kseniia is a graduate of the prestigious Merola Opera Program and the Adler Fellowship at San Francisco Opera, where she has been a part of the music staff for productions of Carmen, Manon Lescaut, and Fidelio. She graduated with her master’s degree in Collaborative Piano from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati where she also completed her DMA in Piano Performance studying with Awadagin Pratt.