Roman Yakub was born in 1958 in L’viv (Ukraine).

He received his Diploma in Music Composition in 1982 from L’viv State Conservatory (now National Music Academy), his Master of Musical Arts Degree in Music Composition from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1995, and his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Music Composition from Boston University in 1999. He studied composition with Andrzei Nikodemovicz, Robert Stern, Charles Fussell, Richard Cornell, and Marjorie Merryman.

Roman Yakub won First Prize in the Ithaca College Choral Composition Contest in 2006.

He also was a runner-up in the ALEA III International Composition Competition, received MacDowell Colony Fellowship in 2000, Telly Award for music for the Memphis Orchestra new concert hall TV commercial in 2003, and ASCAP Annual Awards.

Mr. Yakub's music was performed in Europe and USA. His music had been commissioned by the Wiedikon Orchestra (Zurich, Switzerland), by New York based festivals Bridge and Bachanalia, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, L’viv Philharmonic, etc.

He was a faculty member at Voronezh Academy of Arts, Boston University, Hampshire College, and Amherst College.