Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kayvon Sesar. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kayvon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

I’ve been extremely lucky in the sense that many people have been extremely kind to me throughout my life/career as a musician. Going all the way back to the end of high school, my new private teacher, Andrea Byers invited me to study with her at Cal State Long Beach when I had no idea what my post high school life was going to be like. I hadn’t thought about what I wanted to major in or where I wanted to go but she saw potential in me and gave me some direction in life.

After I graduated, Andrea recommended that I pursue a masters degree. I ended up studying abroad at the University of Limerick in Ireland with my teacher Katherine Hunka. Katherine treated me as her own son and helped push me to become not only a better musician, but also showed me that it was okay to be unashamedly myself.

From Ireland, I ended up going to Wales to pursue a second masters at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Here I studied with Lesley Hatfield who equipped me with the proper tools and mentality to work professionally. She had a no-nonsense approach to life and work that I really admired. It was here that my professional career began. In my second year, I was invited to perform with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales by one of my mentors and their Associate Leader, Nick Whiting. Someone had jammed their thumb the day of the concert and I had been sitting in with the orchestra as part of my program. Nick decided to take a chance on me and I ended up becoming a regular sub for the duration of my stay in Wales.

Upon returning home to Los Angeles, I’ve been fortunate enough to have a number of people help my career. I can’t name them all but here’s and example of how one act of kindness can snowball. In the first few months of coming home I was trying to find work any way that I could. Joining forums, emailing contractors, etc… Most people I emailed never responded, however, I got a response from one. Noah Gladstone. Noah runs a scoring company called Hollywood Scoring where he contracts for various gigs ranging from video game recordings to symphony orchestras. For some reason he decided to give me a shot and I’ll forever be grateful for that opportunity.

After a few years of working, I got an email from Noah to perform with Long Beach Opera. I hadn’t played with them before and thought to myself that it was a cool new experience. What I didn’t know was that I would be sitting next to one of the top violinists in town, Alyssa Park. Luckily, due to my ignorance, I showed up and played business as usual, not realizing that the nice woman I had just met placed in the Tchaikovsky Competition at the age of sixteen! Before the next rehearsal, we were chatting and Alyssa asked me questions about who I was and what I wanted to do with my career. “Do you have any interest in playing sessions?”, “Send me your resume and I’ll pass it along”. For freelance musicians in LA, recording sessions are truly the endgame. The session scene is extremely competitive and very difficult to enter but if you can get in it’s incredibly lucrative. Something she probably viewed as a small act of kindness has helped me tremendously over the last year. Because of her, I’ve been able to record a few movies, TV shows, and performed at events that mean the world to me like The Game Awards (I’m a big gamer).

It just goes to show you that any act of kindness, no matter how small you perceive it to be, can transform into so much. I often wonder whether or not these people think about or realize how much their actions have helped me. Either way, because of them, I try my best to help newcomers to the scene as much as I can.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a freelance violinist based in Los Angeles. My work consists primarily of recording sessions and live shows ranging from classical symphonies to pop concerts. I pride myself on being easy to work with, punctual, and hard working. I genuinely find joy in every gig I do. Playing music for a living just feels like I’m getting paid to hang out and have fun!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I briefly mentioned it earlier but I’m a huge gamer. If gaming was a viable career path when I was growing up, I probably would have gone that route instead of violin. That didn’t happen, and now I’m a professional violinist. So what’s the next best thing? Video game music! I’ve had the pleasure of recording for a few games: League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and Overwatch. All of which I’ve played pretty extensively. I’ve also played live events like The Game Awards where I get to nerd out to the max. My hope is to record for more games because there’s nothing quite like hearing your own music while immersing yourself in another world.

In case you’re wondering, my current games are: Path of Exile, Warzone, Apex Legends, Dragon Quest Monsters, and World of Warcraft.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Seeing how much the music means to people will always be the most rewarding aspect for me. I’ve played quite a few Candlelight Concerts in the past year and my favorite part is always meeting the guests after the show. Seeing how much the music means to people reminds me of why live performances are so important. If you’re not getting direct feedback from an audience it’s easy to forget that what you’re doing can make an impact on someones life. Go to live shows!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/kayvonsesar
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayvonsesar/