IVAN TARANENKO (b. 1965 in Kaniv, Cherkasy Oblast) is a composer, pianist, teacher, and public figure. He graduated from the P.I. Tchaikovsky Kyiv State Conservatory, in the composition class of Professors V. Kyreyko, A. Shtogarenko and G. Lyashenko and then completed a post-graduate course at the National Music Academy in 1995.

Taranenko has been a member of the National Composers’ Union of Ukraine since 1994 and secretary of its board since 2005. He is the winner of numerous awards, including the L.Revutsky Award (1999), M. Lysenko Award (2011), S. Prokofiev All-Ukrainian Contest (Donetsk, 1991) and the Grand Prix of the 5th Regina-Vladimir Horowitz in Memoriam Festival (Piano and Chamber Music, Kyiv, 1998). He has further participated in the “Kyiv Music Fest”, “Musical Premiers of the Season”, “Autumn Jazz Marathon” , “Kyiv-May-Jazz”, International Forums of Young Generation’s Music (Kyiv), XXI International music festival (Ankara, Turkey), Musica Electronica Nova International Electroacoustic Music Festival (Wroclaw, Poland), and “Music from Kyiv: A Festival of Ukrainian Composers” (Chicago, 2010).

He is the founder and general director of the annual International Academic and Contemporary Music Festival “Farbotoni” in Kaniv (since 1998), and artistic director of the annual Shevchenko Choral Festival “Tchernecha Gora” (2012). As a performer he plays solo programs of his own music and improvisations in Ukraine and abroad.