Born and raised in Singapore, Sean Hong Wei has emerged as one of the young cornerstones of his generation in the Singapore jazz scene. He is a saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and a longtime member of the Jazz Association of Singapore Orchestra (JASS).

Currently based in New York, Sean has performed alongside greats such as Reggie Workman, Billy Hart, and Billy Harper at the 2nd Annual John Coltrane Festival, and with the Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars Big Band led by John Lee at Blue Note New York. 

His debut album “The New Jersey Sessions” with his mentor from Singapore, pianist Jeremy Monteiro, was released in January 2024. The album features Jay Anderson, Evan Sherman, and special guests Alex Sipiagin and Houston Person. On July 15th 2024, the album stood at No. 19 in the USA JazzWeek charts.

When Sean was 13, his affinity with music began when he first chanced upon Charlie Parker’s “Yardbird Suite”. Since then, his love for music grew exponentially after discovering more records and studying the rich tradition of Black African American music. He attributes his playing to some of his heroes such as Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Joe Lovano and Ray Charles.

His playing encompasses the spirits of the great saxophone masters of the different lineages and his pure love for the music is apparent in his personal sound and approach to his instrument.

In his work with JASS, he has performed with jazz luminaries such as Benny Golson, Randy Brecker, Antonio Hart, Lewis Nash, Justin Faulkner, Tony Lakatos, and Carmen Bradford.

Notable festivals he has performed with JASS include the 13th JZ Jazz Festival (Shanghai, 2017), Borneo Jazz Festival (Malaysia, 2018), EFG London Jazz Festival (London, 2018), Jazz Education Network Conference (Reno, Nevada, US, 2019), and the Thailand International Jazz Conference (Bangkok, Thailand 2020).

His Singapore mentors and heroes include Jeremy Monteiro, Christy Smith, Tan Weixiang, Andrew Lim, Joshua Wan, Chok Kerong, and Louis Soliano.