Roman Jbanov is a Franco-Russian accordionist, born on 6 June 1976 in Pervomaisk, in the former USSR. He began playing the button accordion at the age of six, receiving his first lessons from his mother, Valentina Jbanova, an accordion graduate of the Yalta Music College. In 1987, he entered the special music school attached to the Mikhail Glinka Conservatory in Novosibirsk, where he studied with Alexandr Kroupine and Andrei Romanov.

He soon became the winner of several competitions, including young accordionist competitions in Novosibirsk and Biisk, the Beloborodov International Grand Prix in Tula, and later major international awards in Klingenthal, Cassino, Mondragón and Saint Petersburg. During these years, he also performed with the Novosibirsk Russian Folk Instruments Orchestra, recorded for radio and television, and continued his studies at the Novosibirsk Conservatory.

In 1997, he was invited by Jacques Mornet to France to prepare for international competitions. That same period brought further success, including prizes in Klingenthal, the Trophée Mondial in Andorra, Mondragón, and the José Rossi Prize in France. In 1998, he founded the Paris-Moscow Duo with Domi Emorine.

Roman Jbanov graduated from the Novosibirsk Conservatory in 1999 and also obtained a French D.E.M. from the Gennevilliers Conservatory. His Russian qualifications were later officially validated in France, and he completed a Master’s degree in Didactics at ARTS², the Royal Conservatory of Mons in Belgium.

From 2000, he became part of the teaching team at the Centre National et International de Musique et d’Accordéon, CNIMA, working alongside Jacques Mornet and later Nathalie Boucheix. Alongside his teaching activity, he has maintained an active international concert career as a soloist and chamber musician, performing with the Paris-Moscow Duo, with his sister Anna Jbanova, and later with Alexei Birioukov in a Russian duo for accordion and balalaika.

Since 2009, he has been president of the Franco-Russian cultural association Sancyberie, and since 2013 he has organised the international accordion competition Les Étoiles Sancyberie. He is regularly invited as a jury member for major international accordion competitions, including the Trophée Mondial and Castelfidardo, and gives masterclasses with Domi Emorine at summer music academies in France. He also lectures at ARTS², the Royal Conservatory of Mons.