Jason V. Barabba is a native Californian composer and non-profit arts administrator. As a composer he has an affinity for collaboration, especially with authors (living and dead) whose work inspires thoughtfulness, intelligence, and emotional investment in the listener. He prefers to tell a story with his work even when there’s no text or specific drama indicated. He enjoys incorporating spoken text into places it’s not normally expected. His favorite thing to work on is opera.

Works by a diverse range of authors including Ursula K. Le Guin, Tao Lin, Helen Keller, Herman Melville, Christopher Durang, David Bartone, Juen Carryl, Terry Pratchett and even his own father and great aunt have all inspired his compositional process. Le Guin has said of Barabba’s work, “Some composers use words as raw material. Like Schubert or Vaughan-Williams, he collaborates with them...the texture of the music and the tension in it are wonderfully effective; it’s spare and airy, but strong.”

Barabba is the founding Executive Director and current Associate Director for Synchromy, a musician’s collective producing engaging new music events shaped and influenced by its home county of Los Angeles. Synchromy prioritizes collaboration to present cutting edge music with an interdisciplinary approach in order to highlight the art, creating an entry point that deepens the audience’s understanding of the music’s intended impact. Synchromy’s artistic directors bring a wide range of knowledge, experience, and expertise to every project we present, the end result being a profound audience and performer experience unique to Synchromy.

After his major in Latin American Studies as an undergraduate at Occidental College, he went on to study music at the University of Chicago, and composition at the University of California at Irvine, and UCLA.

Barabba left his home of Los Angeles in 2021. In 2023 he became a dual-citizen of the United States and Italy, and currently maintains a home in Rivarolo Canavese, in the province of Turin while also remaining connected to his family home in California.

Several of Barabba’s works are available on commercial recordings on the Yarlung Records, MMC Recordings and Navona Records labels. For more information on upcoming projects and to see a complete list of available works, please visit www.jasonbarabba.com.