A pedestrian lost his life on Fri., July 26 shortly after noon after being struck by a car near Fairlawn Ave. and Market St.
      Pronounced dead at the scene was 35-year-old Sean Baran, of Chester Dr., a talented musician who served for nine years as organist at Boardman United Methodist Church.
      The Ohio State Highway Patrol said that Baran was walking eastbound on Fairlawn Ave. when a 2004 Volkswagon GTI was traveling southbound. The OSP said that Baran walked into the lane of travel and was struck by the vehicle.
      While at Boardman United Methodist Church, Baran’s love for music breathed new life into the church where he blended music with community engagement.
      Concerts organized by Baran brought together multiple church choirs to raise money for the American Guild of Organists and the Boardman High School Choirs. Performances of holiday piano music at the Mill Creek Metroparks Fellows Riverside Gardens allowed his music to be heard by more casual audiences.
      Baran served as the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra’s ensemble keyboardist during their 2018/2019 Stained-Glass and Classics series. In addition to his musical endeavors, Sean was an advocate for Youngstown and Mill Creek Park was a member of the Mill Creek Metroparks’ Environmental Advisory Committee.
      At the age of 5-years-old, Baran recalled he knew that he wanted to play the piano.
      He began to pursue his dream at the age of 11, when he was able to start taking piano lessons from Dorothy Schwers, who had a lifelong impact on Sean.
      “She inspired me to play and to love music, showing me that music expresses the beauty of the world,” Baran recalled.
      He loved to perform and share music with people. He said “it’s like opening a diary, and spilling out your thoughts.”
      A valedictorian at Austintown Fitch High School in 2007, Baran went on to become a summa cum laude from Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music, earning bachelor and master’s degrees in music performance. He was a graduate teaching assistant while attending YSU, and currently teaches keyboard musicianship, and music theory courses at the university.
      In 2010, Baran won the Dana Young Artist Contest, which led to a performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto with the Dana Orchestra.
      After earning his master’s degree in 2014, Baran was accepted to participate in the Zodiac Music Academy and Festival in southern France.
      For many years, he performed an annual May concert for the Youngstown Area Federation of Women’s Cubs, Inc.
      Catherine Campana, President of YAFWC, said the group looked forward to his recital every year.
      Teaching was Baran’s real passion.
      “To be able to inspire students to see music as an art form, like a painting, music is an expression of oneself,” Baran said in a 2016 interview with The Boardman News.
      He started teaching piano lessons in 2008. He had a private piano studio and says he is like a traveling teacher, also instructing YSU students, cultivating in them the desire to someday teach. His students frequently received the highest ratings at local adjudicated events and can be heard throughout the area in recitals and in master classes.
      Baran previously served as president of the Young Music Teachers Association and was a member of the American Guild of Organists that embraces all who enjoy and promote worship through music and song.
      In conjunction with Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music and Valley Christian School’s Lewis Center, Baran organized a Summer Piano Camp where third to eighth graders participated with varying levels of piano and music knowledge, ending the camp with a recital.
      To help students get over the fear of performing, and to help inspire them to learn and enjoy music, Baran created The Ribbon Festival that was held at Bliss Hall.
      Many of us have dreams and goals we wish to achieve. Sean Baran lived his dream. He loved music, from performing piano recitals, playing the 70-year-old pipe organ at Boardman United Methodist Church, to teaching youth to play and enjoy music, or preparing college students to teach music with a passion.
      Music is an expression of oneself, an art form, that Baran loved and used as a tool to perform and teach to the world around him.