La La Land Pianist
The Call From Hollywood: My La La Land Experience
So, after La La Land swept the Academy Awards, I got a rather unexpected phone call. I was sitting in my small office in San Marcos, Texas, minding my own business when the William Morris Talent Agency in Hollywood reached out to me. Yes, Hollywood. They were preparing for a world tour of “La La Land – In Concert,” and Austin was slated to be the first stop after its big Los Angeles debut. How they found me, a pianist in Texas, is still a mystery. Maybe they Googled "pianist in Texas who knows jazz and film scores"? Who knows! But one thing was clear—they needed someone who was classically trained, familiar with film music, and could swing some major jazz. I guess I checked all the boxes.
This really gave me firsthand experience of what we all hear about these days—being able to live “off the grid” in places like Marfa, TX or Montana and still stay connected to the world. Suddenly, I was in the mix, connected to Hollywood, all from my little corner of Texas.
Now, let me tell you, this gig was no walk in the park. In fact, it was probably one of the most rewarding and challenging things I’ve done in the past 20 years. The music? 179 pages of sheet music. That’s right—179 pages! We’re talking solo piano, Latin salsa, jazz quintet, and even a Rachmaninoff-style concerto with a full orchestra. You name it, I played it.
I had the pleasure of performing in multiple cities, each with a full orchestra, and I even got some great reviews out of it. Here’s one of my favorites:
David Hendricks, Arts/Entertainment Critic for the San Antonio Express, wrote: “Keeping the orchestra in sync with the film was ‘La La Land in Concert’ tour conductor Erik Ochsner of New York City. With so much of the music flowing from Sebastian’s piano, Ochsner clearly took the approach of presenting the two-hour movie like it was a piano concerto. Making that possible was the sparkling keyboard work of pianist Hank Hehmsoth, who performed the same role last year with the Austin Symphony when it performed ‘La La Land in Concert.’”
Not too shabby, right?
But there’s a lot more that goes into these performances than just playing the notes. As a professional pianist, you need to have a whole toolkit of extra skills. My technical experience in the studio and working with commercials and movies turned out to be a huge asset. My classical piano training, plus all the time I’ve spent in pit orchestras for Broadway shows, definitely came in handy too. Not to mention the added technical challenge of playing live while keeping everything in sync with a film, which is no small feat.
Speaking of syncing with the film, here’s an excerpt scene from La La Land. Pay attention to the time code and click track—it’s not just about playing music, but keeping everything perfectly in sync with what’s happening on screen!