Sean Hayward is a composer and performer based in the Los Angeles and Surakarta areas. During Sean’s residency as a Fulbright award recipient, he is conducting research on calung Banyumas and also developing original compositions for the ensemble. His music is a reflection of his wide-ranging interests, which include Javanese gamelan, process music, Balkan folk music, the contemporary classical guitar, extreme metal, and ancient tuning systems. His research is affiliated with Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI), Surakarta

Sean is a doctoral candidate in the Performer-Composer program at the California Institute of the Arts where he has also served as a lecturer. Aside from performing as a soloist, Hayward performs regularly as one half of the guitar violin duo, Duo Meranti, an ongoing collaboration with composer-violinist, Chrysanthe Tan. Hayward is also the founder of the experimental Indonesian music collective, Gamelan Suara Baru.