Sebastian Zaczek (born in Hamburg in 2002) began playing the piano at the age of seven, and soon after made his first attempts at composition. As a teenager, he took piano lessons from Mihai Zaharescu.

After graduating from high school, Sebastian initially decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in computer science at the University of Hamburg, which he completed in the summer of 2024.

He then began studying composition as his major under Prof. Gordon Kampe at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater the following winter semester. Sebastian is a multiple prize winner of the national “Jugend Komponiert” competition, as well as the second-place winner of the 2024 Gustav Mahler Composition Prize and the 2025 Begüm Aslan Composition Prize. His works have been performed at events including the Witten Days for New Chamber Music, the Queens New Music Festival, Hamburg Contemporary, and the Musik21 Festival, for which he also received composition commissions.

From March 2022 through 2024, he was also a member of the jury for the “Follow My Score” calls for submissions organized by Score Follower, an organization dedicated in particular to promoting broad access to new music and contemporary compositions online.

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