about | Ryan Barski
Born and raised in Rochester, New York, Ryan Barski is a Jazz Drummer, Arranger, and Composer who recently graduated from the prestigious Eastman School of Music, Class of 2022. He is currently pursuing his Master's degree at Eastman under the tutelage of Rich Thompson.
Ryan has been surrounded by music and the drum set from the young age of two years old. Ryan went to Honeoye Falls-Lima High School, and his dream is to follow a similar career path as other HFL alumni such as Ted Poor, Fred Sturm, and Ike Sturm. Progressing through high school under the leadership of Mark Borden, his passion for music grew, leading to participation in Eastman’s Summer Jazz studies program. This experience, coupled with the tutelage of Rich Thompson, his drum set teacher from mid-junior year to now, solidified his path of studying drum set performance at Eastman.
In his current studies at the Eastman School of Music, Ryan has been fortunate enough to work with world-renowned faculty members such as Jeff Campbell, Bill Dobbins, Clay Jenkins, Gary Vercase, Dave Rivello, Christine Jensen, Darisuz Terefenko, Bob Sneider, Charles Pillow, and Mark Kellog. All of these faculty members have helped shape and mold his musicianship
Ryan received the 2017 Rochester International Jazz Festival Scholarship. He has performed at the Rochester International Jazz Festival annually since 2013. Ryan was fortunate enough to have his show at the 2019 Jazz festival, which featured the talents of Rafael Enciso, Jordan Lerner, and CJ Ziarniak. In 2022, Ryan had the privilege of playing a show with the great trumpet player John Hasselback III where the group played the original music of his most recent record, "Entrance."
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During Ryan's Senior year at Eastman, he was fortunate enough to participate in helping the school celebrate Eastman's Centennial. In celebration of Eastman's 100th year, the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Dave Rivello, had the pleasure of world premiering a piece and working with 7-time Grammy Award Winner Maria Schneider. Ryan, along with all the other band members, had the privilege of working and rehearsing Maria's music and putting on a once-in-a-lifetime concert.
"Music washes away the dust of everyday life." - Art Blakey