About me

Hello! I'm Sebastiaan.

I'm a Dutch-American jazz/folk pianist/accordionist based in Rotterdam.

I play with several different groups--the afrobeat collective Sirocco, the Turkish fusion ensemble MAMAR, the Dutch Celtic mega-group Celtic Sparks, and the Bollywood fusion band Bombay Noir, for example.

I also work as a solo artist. For some impressions of my solo playing, see the Music page :)

Biography

I started playing the piano when I was five years old. My parents quickly realized that I seemed to really enjoy the instrument, and got me started with classical lessons when I was six.

Moving to the US from Amsterdam when I was eight, I continued play, and quickly developed a liking for fast, flashy repertoire. I played my first orchestral concert as a soloist with the Burlington Chamber Orchestra when I was 15, and continued to play and practice actively in high school.

Around this time, I began to discover the worlds of jazz and traditional--'trad'--music, both of which fascinated me and nourished parts of my soul I didn't know existed. Jazz offered me a freedom I had never experienced--the freedom to play whatever I wanted--while trad gave me a community and a way of making music that I fell in love with more every day. Ultimately, I decided to study jazz piano instead of classical, thinking that it would be a gateway into several musical worlds that I desperately wanted to be a part of.

In 2020, I moved to Rotterdam to study jazz piano and molecular biology--an odd combination by anyone's standards--in the Rotterdam Arts and Sciences Laboratory double degree program. In 2025, I graduated from Codarts University for the Performing Arts and Erasmus University College and began my career as a full-time musician. This is where you find me now, playing in a diverse collection of bands and teaching in and around Rotterdam. I hope to see you at one of my shows soon!