Fran Barajas (1995) is a Spanish-Colombian composer. His music has explored, among other aspects, the idea of memory, in a kind of musical archaeology through the relationship with other music. He began his musical training in cello and piano (pre-college). He studied composition (bachelor) in Alicante, Spain, with Marc García Vitoria, and a Master’s Degree in Contemporary Music Creation with Ramón Lazkano in Musikene, Basque Country. He's currently doing a postgraduate course in Kunstuniversität Graz with Franck Bedrossian. Additionally, he’s received masterclasses and lessons from Pierluigi Billone, Francesca Verunelli, Alberto Posadas, Pascal Dusapin, Clara Iannotta, and Johannes Schöllhorn, among others.

In 2019 he was selected in the Composition Workshop with Francisco Coll at the Palau de la Música in Valencia. Due to this, he received from the Orquesta of Valencia the commission of mutatis mutandis, which was premiered in 2023 conducted by Nacho de Paz in the 45th edition of ENSEMS Festival, Valencia.

As part of the master’s degree, he wrote The Quartet in my life for Quatuor Diotima, premiered in Donostia on 30th April 2021, and Les Voix Humaines for the Ensemble Intercontemporain, conducted by Jean-Christophe Vervoitte and premiered on the same city, 30th April 2022.

In 2023, he received a commission from the Institut Valencià de Cultura (IVC), with support of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, for El olor de la guayaba #3, written for Trio Feedback and premiered in 2023 in ENSEMS. Also, he participated in the IMPULS Festival and Academy, in Graz, Austria, receiving advice from several composers and working with the Klangforum Wien, conducted by Johannes Kalitzke.

His music has been present at various festivals such as MIXTUR (Barcelona), Bernola Zikloa (Vitoria), De Link (Tilburg), among others. He has worked with performers such as Miguel Ituarte, Valeria Kafelnikov, Jordi Francés, Ensemble O Vos Omnes, Ensemble Sinkro, Ensemble Taller Sonoro, Trio Agora, Trío Apellániz, and Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, among others.

His work has received various recognitions, among which stands out the Honorable Mention in the XXVIII Musical Composition Prize of the College of Spain in Paris – INAEM. He also received the “Grand Rector Prize of Loyola University” in the “I Young Loyola Emerging Composers Creation Contest 2023”, in Seville. He has been awarded by the SGAE Foundation with a scholarship for his master's studies at Musikene, academic year 2021-22.

For the upcoming projects in 2024, he’s been selected for an ULYSSES Network Journey, participating in Royaumont’s Voix Nouvelles Academy and Warsaw Autumn Festival. On the other hand, he’s currently working under the guidance of Luca Francesconi in the workshop “Composing for voices and orchestra” with Orquestra Gulbenkian, organized by the ENOA Community.