Disclaimer: This website is owned and operated by The Metropolitan Opera Music Staff Members.

It does not represent the views, positions, or opinions of the Metropolitan Opera but only those of the musicians and their union,

The Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802, American Federation of Musicians

Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad

Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad

Ukrainian-American pianist and vocal coach Dr. Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad is currently on music staff at San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera.   


In previous seasons, Kseniia has worked at opera companies and festivals such as Des Moines Metro Opera, West Edge Opera, Queen City Opera, the Ravinia Festival Steans Institute, the Schmidt Vocal Institute, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.


At San Francisco Opera Kseniia has worked on mainstage productions of Manon Lescaut, Carmen, The Barber of Seville, Fidelio,  Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Dream of the Red Chamber, and Eugene Onegin and collaborated with such conductors as Nicola Luisotti, James Gaffigan, Eun Sun Kim, Bertrand de Billy, Henrik Nánási, and others.


Kseniia is a graduate of the Merola Opera Program and the Adler Fellowship at San Francisco Opera where she was mentored by John Churchwell and Carrie-Ann Matheson.  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 and Lydia Brown.