hello we are a band from austin texas
woodwork is an Austin-based group equally embracing contemporary classical idioms and joyful indie rock melodies, immersed in the unique soundworld of the asalato/kashaka, marimba, and oboe. Acclaimed as “euphoric, ambient, and comforting” (Nopality Mag), their distinctive sound is grounded in both the indie classical scene and the composer-percussionist lineage. They have found success in live music platforms and venues across Austin, TX; sharing the stage with artists such as Ivan Trevino, Louis Raymond-Kolker, and Maru Haru.
woodwork was founded in the spring of 2025 at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin, and consists of Davin Cai (marimba), Thomas Alemandra (oboe), and Sebastian Zhang (asalato/kashaka).
davin plays marimba
Davin Cai (b. 2003) is a percussionist who unifies different musical settings and audiences through finding meaningful human experiences with unapologetic emotion. Highlights include performances at Carnegie Hall, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), and winning the 2024 Drum Corps International World Championships with the Bluecoats in a show nationally recognized by the New York Times as one that "just might live forever".
Further accolades include the 2022 Fred Sanford Percussion Caption award as well as numerous Finals appearances at the Drum Corps and Winter Guard International World Championships with the Blue Knights and Monarch Independent.
More recently, Davin has explored diverse musical ventures around Austin, premiering his own work with the University of Texas Percussion Ensemble as well as performing with the Austin Percussion Collective and the University of Texas Wind Ensemble under the direction of Jerry Junkin. An advocate for contemporary music, he has premiered music by composers such as Hila Plitmann, Katahj Copley, and Hunter Prueger. Versatile across genres, Davin is equally at home performing in the concert hall or in live music venues such as Laguna Gloria and Monks Jazz.
Davin is currently pursuing his M.M. in Percussion Performance from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, studying with Ian Rosenbaum, Jisu Jung, Jeff Stern, and Sandbox Percussion. He received his B.M. in Music Education from the University of Texas at Austin under the instruction of Thomas Burritt and Ivan Trevino.
thomas plays oboe
Thomas Alemandra (b. 2002) is a multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer with wide-ranging experience across musical disciplines. He has performed extensively with the University of Texas Wind Ensemble, the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps, and alt-rock band philo*, spanning an eccentric variety of instruments including the oboe, bass, and marimba.
Experimenting past the boundaries between classical and popular music, Thomas has performed as principal oboist with the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra and as a bassist in punk band Rat Church. As a marimbist, Thomas has made finals appearances at the Drum Corps and Winter Guard International World Championships with both the Mandarins and Monarch Independent.
Currently, Thomas is an acoustician at BAi, designing and testing the acoustics of musical performance venues. He studied oboe performance and completed a B.S. in Architectural Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 2024.
sebastian plays asalato
Unapologetically embracing the electric nostalgia of a younger generation, Sebastian Zhang (b. 2003) is a composer-percussionist and asalato/kashaka player joyfully exploring the sounds of everyday objects. His music crafts eclectic timbral soundscapes alongside math-rock grooves and acoustic imitations of wailing electronic distortion.
Highlights include projects for and performances by Third Coast Percussion (upcoming), Marco Schirripa, Nick May, Sandbox Percussion, the Living Earth Show, Matchstick Percussion, and Blacktop Percussion. His compositions have been performed internationally and in over twenty-four U.S. states, with performances at events such as the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), the Round Top Festival Institute, and the International Double Reed Society Conference (IDRS). Nine of his works appear on the Texas UIL Prescribed Music List (PML).
Sebastian is an avid performer of the asalato/kashaka. In 2024, Sebastian became the first asalatist from outside Asia to attain top 8 in competition at the ASALATO NIGHT Freestyle Battle. Further achievements include top 4 in the 2025 ASALATRIBE World Asalato Online Battle.
Sebastian completed a B.M. in Music Studies from the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin, studying under Ivan Trevino, Omar Thomas, Yevgeniy Sharlat, and Thomas Burritt. Independent studies include asalato performance under PANMAN. Sebastian is currently pursuing an M.M. in Music Composition at the Yale School of Music under the instruction of Aaron Jay Kernis.
In his free time, Sebastian likes to imagine.