Kseniia Polstiankina

Ukraine-born Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad is a pianist and collaborator with a flourishing career on both sides of the Atlantic. She is a full time pianist and prompter at San Francisco Opera and a guest assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, and has been a guest music staff member at Houston Grand Opera and Cincinnati Opera. She has collaborated with conductors such as Bertrand de Billy, Eun Sun Kim, Nathalie Stutzmann, James Gaffigan, Nicola Luisotti, Henrik Nánási, Ramón Tebar and others.

As a collaborative pianist, Kseniia has worked with opera and vocal music organizations across the U.S., including the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Des Moines Metro Opera, Long Beach Opera, Cincinnati Song Initiative, West Edge Opera, Queen City Opera, Songfest, Lieder Alive and others. As a teacher, she has been hired for coaching residencies at the Adler and Lindemann Young Artist Programs, Indiana University, and several other Universities.

Kseniia 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. She completed three years of the Adler fellowship at San Francisco Opera as well as a summer at the Merola Opera Program.

Last updated: September 16, 2025