27 May Sebastian Chang
Sebastian is a composer & pianist based in southern California. He utilizes a combination of traditional craft and modern aesthetics to create his unique style. His first major performance as a piano soloist was the premiere of his composition Concertino for Piano and Orchestra with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra at the age of 9. Sebastian obtained his B.M. in Composition from the Curtis Institute of Music & his M.M. in Composition from the University of Southern California. From ’16-’18, he was the Resident
Composer of the Louisville Orchestra.
He is the youngest three-time BMI Student Composer Awards winner in the history of the competition (’02, ’05, & ’07). He won five ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Awards (’01, ’02, ’04, ’05, & ’06). He was awarded a $50K scholarship as a Davidson Fellow Laureate by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development in ’02. He played in the Louisville Orchestra in “The American Project” featuring Yuja Wang as piano soloist and Teddy Abrams and Michael Tilson Thomas as composers, which won a Grammy in the “Best Instrumental Classical Solo” category in ’24.
His works have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, the Louisville Ballet, the Louisville Orchestra, the Cleveland Chamber Festival, the Britt Festival Orchestra, the Louisville Chamber Choir, and the NouLou Chamber Players. His “Classical Symphony”, premiered by the Louisville Orchestra in January ‘15, is subject of Episode 9: “First Symphony” of the Music Makes a City Now PBS documentary cycle. “Between Heaven and Earth”, in collaboration with Kurdish Baghdad-native visual artist Vian Sora, premiered on February 23 & 24, ’18 by the Louisville Orchestra & Louisville Chamber Choir, in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center, in Louisville, KY.
Sebastian’s new Piano Concerto “The Empress”, for piano and full orchestra, premiered on June 17, ’22, in the Britt Festival Pavilion by the Britt Festival Orchestra, in Jacksonville, OR. His new Piano Trio No. 2 “Beyond Silence” premiered on November 20, ‘22, by Trio Barclay, at the Barclay Theatre, in Irvine, CA.
He performed the piano solo part to Bernstein’s “Symphony 2: The Age of Anxiety” with the Louisville Orchestra on March 31 & April 1, ’23, at Whitney Hall in the Kentucky Center, in Louisville, KY. His new film score for the silent horror classic “Nosferatu” premiered October 27 & 28, ’23, by the Louisville Orchestra at Whitney Hall in the Kentucky Center, in Louisville, KY.
He is Louisville Orchestra’s first-call pianist. At the Orange County School of the Arts, he is an instructor for the Instrumental Music & Piano programs, and works as an accompanist for the Instrumental Music, Classical Voice, and Musical Theatre departments. His publishing company is Sebastian Press, registered under the American Society of Composers, Authors, & Publishers (ASCAP).
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