Roma Bandza, Piano

Roma Bandza was born and raised in Lithuania where she received her piano training within the Russian tradition. As a child she received extensive musical training for seven years at Children’s Music School, and in high school she attended the Kaunas Higher Music School as a piano major. She earned her bachelor’s in piano and organ performance at J. Groudis Music Academy and her master’s in piano performance at State Conservatory Lithuania. 

In Lithuania Roma worked as piano instructor and accompanist at M.K. Čiurlionis School of Arts and at B. Dvarionas School of Music. She came to the U.S. in 1990 and has taught piano privately since then. In her lessons she strives to make lessons fun while teaching proper technique and music-reading.

Roma performed the Mozart Piano Concerto no. 12 with the Parma Symphony in 2019. She has worked as a staff accompanist at Cleveland State University for both voice and ballet and was also accompanist at the Academy of Cleveland Ballet. Roma has extensive experience as a music director and organist at many churches in the Cleveland area, including St. Philomena Catholic Church, St. Patrick Catholic Church, and All Saints Lutheran Church. She is currently Director of Music at St. Casimir’s Catholic Church.

Roma has also studied voice at Cleveland Institute of Music with Joanne Uniatowski and with Elizabeth Chesko at Cleveland State University, as well as organ at Cleveland State with Maria Sharff. She is a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Blossom Festival Chorus as well as the Akron Symphony Orchestra Chorus.