Unapologetically embracing the electric nostalgia of a younger generation, Sebastian Zhang (b. 2003) is a composer-percussionist influenced by the modern chiptune scene, upbeat video game riffs, math-rock melodies, and jazz fusion. His music draws upon scenes of everyday life—from chasing tadpoles to memories of cartoon ice cream—and how they echo grander themes of merry wonder and existentialist hope.

Sebastian’s music has been performed by organizations including Sandbox Percussion, the Living Earth Show, the the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Michigan, Matchstick Percussion, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His music has been performed across the United States at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), the Round Top Festival Institute, the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy (NCPP), the Great Plains International Marimba Competition (GPIMC) and broadcast on Kansas Public Radio’s KANU 91.5 FM. Several of his works appear on the Texas UIL Prescribed Music List (PML) and the Missouri MSHSAA PML.

Sebastian is an avid player of the asalato, a West African shaker percussion instrument with a prominent virtuosic solo subculture in Japan. He advanced to the top 4 in the 2025 ASALATRIBE World Asalato Online Battle, and attained top 8 in competition at the 2024 ASALATO NIGHT Freestyle Battle in Kyoto, Japan. Live performance experience includes his band woodwork, as one of the only gigging asalatists in North America.

Fostering connections between art and people, Sebastian is the co-founder and co-artistic director of the Austin Percussion Collective, a chamber percussion group immersed in the live music scene of Austin, Texas.

Sebastian holds a BM in Music Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, studying under Ivan Trevino, Omar Thomas, Yevgeniy Sharlat, and Thomas Burritt. In Fall 2025, he will begin an MM in Music Composition at the Yale School of Music.