Omer Barash‘s recent projects address questions of betweenness and identity, considering them across different sounding and conceptual aspects of music. His work is often inspired by Hebrew texts and traditions and the soundscapes that surround him.

Barash’s past artistic engagements include collaborations with ensembles such as Modern (Germany, as part of ICCS young_professionals), Paramirabo (Canada), Reconsil (Austria), the Israeli Contemporary Players, and Meitar Ensemble (Israel). Conductors and soloists who have performed Barash’s music include Pierre-André Valade, Léo Warynski, Keren Motseri, Benjamin Alunni, and Brittany Rae.

Omer Barash is the recipient of several prizes and awards, including the 1st prize of the Ensemble Écoute Composition Competition (2024), 3rd prize of the SunRiver International Composition Contest (2021), the Svoboda Memorial Prize from McGill University (2020), the 1st prize of the Klon Award for emerging composers from the Israel Composers League (2019), and merit grants from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation (2018-2023), among others.

Born in Israel in 1995, Barash received his first training in composition at the Israel Arts and Science Academy (IASA) high-school. He graduated from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance with the highest honours, where he was a member of the Tedarim Program of contemporary music, mentored by Meitar Ensemble. He continued his studies at McGill University, where he served as President of the McGill Association of Student Composers and achieved his master’s degree; at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) where he got his postgraduate diploma in electroacoustic composition; and the Cursus de composition et d’informatique musicale at IRCAM, Paris. In Fall 2024, he will start his doctoral studies in Composition at Columbia University in the City of New York.

Among Omer Barash’s composition teachers are Pierre Jodlowski and Claudia Jane Scroccaro at IRCAM, Karlheinz Essl at mdw, Philippe Leroux at McGill University, and Yinam Leef and Ari Ben-Shabetai at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. He has also perticipated in masterclasses and seminars with Chaya Czernowin, Matthew Shlomowitz, Franck Bedrossian, Pierluigi Billone, Carola Bauckholt, Clara Iannotta, and Georg Friedrich Haas.