Sean is a composer, producer, and longtime radio host whose creative path has taken him from Paris studios to Pacific Northwest forests. He grew up in San Francisco, but always dreamed of the moss and mist of the Northwest—and finally made the move in 2005, after working at WGBH in Boston.

A pianist since the age of four, Sean studied composition at Amherst College and the Yale School of Music, where his mentors included Pulitzer Prize winners Lukas Foss and Jacob Druckman. His works have been performed by choirs and orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic, including London’s BBC Symphony.

Over the years, Sean has explored just about every part of the music-making process—composing, performing, engineering, producing, even designing instruments. He created a recording business while living in Paris, and later built a video studio to film hundreds of local musicians, earning over 100,000 views on YouTube.

At Classical KING, Sean brings all of that experience together. Whether he’s at the mic or behind the scenes, his focus is always the same: connecting people with music that moves them.

Away from the mic, Sean is a published travel photographer who chases beauty wherever he can find it—on moonlit kayaking trips, backcountry ski trails, and kitesurfing adventures with his wife and their dog. After one especially hard-won climb to the summit of Mt. Rainier, he let out a joyful shout so loud, he lost his radio voice—for a few days, anyway.

KING: Let’s say you have a free day to spend somewhere beautiful. Are you heading to the beach or the mountains? In the Pacific Northwest, of course, we have easy access to both.

Sean: Ski in the morning before it gets slushy, then down to water, to kitesurf.

KING: Favorite type of food?

Sean: Bow-hunted game, Kusshi oysters, Cascades slope mushrooms in French butter, glass of Washington State Mourvèdre.

KING: It’s game night! Are you hoping for a board/tabletop game, a video game, or a sporting event?

Sean: What’s game night?

KING: Beatles or Rolling Stones? (Or Bach or Beethoven?)

Sean: Pink Floyd. Production values matter!

KING: What music might people be surprised to learn you listen to — when you’re not listening to KING, that is?

Sean: Audiobooks of great novels read by stellar actors while I cook. Better than reading locked in a chair any day.

KING: What classical composers, living or dead, haven’t gotten their fair dose of attention — which composers aren’t “household names” but should be?

Sean: Monteverdi, Rebecca Clarke, Scriabin, Duruflé, Frank Ferko.

KING: If your classical music collection was entirely vinyl records, which of those records would be nearly worn-out from being played dozens of times? In other words, what music do you come back to, over and over again?

Sean: Rite of Spring, Brahms Op. 8 Trio, Mahler 2, Prokofiev piano concertos 2 & 3, Thomas Newman soundtracks, Djivan Gasparyan, Mompou’s Musica Callada.

KING: What pieces of music do you turn to when you need comfort, solace, or relaxation?

Sean: Gerald Finzi’s Introit, Ian Bostridge singing Schubert’s “Nacht und Träume,” Duruflé’s Requiem, and Baltic choral music.

KING: Let’s say you’re hosting a musical dinner party or cocktail party, and you can invite three composers or performers, living or dead. Whom do you invite?

Sean: Martha Argerich, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin.