Sebastian Brown
| Sebastian Brown | |
|---|---|
 Sebastian Brown at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival | |
| Born |
June 26, 1992 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian, Spanish |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto (BA Linguistics) |
| Occupation | Pianist |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Net worth | US$0[1] |
Sebastian Brown (born 26 June 1992) is a Spanish-Canadian ragtime pianist.
Early life and education
Brown was born in Toronto. When he was a child, his mother hired musician and teacher John Alonso to teach him piano,[2] against Brown's will.[1][3][4] Brown attended Leaside High School,[5][6][7] failing music as a student there.[1]
After having completed high school in 2010, he studied linguistics at the University of Toronto, graduating in 2014.[1][2][3][5][8] At university, Brown began playing ragtime.[1][4]
Brown speaks English, French, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic.[3] He has stated that he does not drink alcohol.[4][9]
Career
After university, in July 2014, Brown purchased a street performance licence,[8] and began busking in downtown Toronto, whenever the weather would allow him.[10] Brown has stated that he never wanted to earn a living in music; rather that he began performing because he has no money, and that music is his only source of income.[1][2]
His instrument is a 360-kilogram[11] Willis & Co. Limited piano built in 1913,[2][3][4] which he inherited from his grandmother.[3] Brown pushes the instrument two kilometres each way[8] from a storage locker in the Distillery District[3][4] to Union Station.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Scott Lightfoot (7 August 2015). "Meet a Toronto busker who pushes a piano 2 km a day". CTV Television Network.
- 1 2 3 4 Lia Grainger (14 July 2015). "CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC". NOW Magazine.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nick Westoll (12 July 2015). "Piano man busting his hump to busk at Union Station". Toronto Sun.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Dan Taekema (5 August 2015). "Muscular busker Sebastian Brown pushes a piano two kilometres to play". Toronto Star.
- 1 2 "Artist profile". Go out of Tune.
- ↑ "Artist Profile". DO416.
- ↑ "Artist Profile". Indie Week Canada.
- 1 2 3 Jessica Smith-Cross (22 June 2015). "U of T grad bringing ragtime — and his piano — to Bay and Front". Toronto Metro.
- ↑ Manisha Krishnan (29 October 2015). "A Toronto Busker Claims He Was Harassed by the Same Cop Filmed Bullying a Bystander". Vice News.
- ↑ Audra Brown (16 March 2015). "City TV Report". City Toronto.
- ↑ Martin Trainor (2 July 2015). "Busker pushes piano 4 km through city streets — every day". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.