Dr. Christopher Castro

Dr. Christopher Castro

Assistant Professor
Composition
College of Performing Arts; Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music
Photo credit: Justin Han
Office Location: Oliphant Hall 203
Education:
The Juilliard School, Bachelor of Music
University of California, Davis, Ph.D.

Biography

Chris Castro is a composer and double bassist from Brooklyn, New York. He is a recipient of Chamber Music America's 2021 Classical Commissioning Award, where one of the jurors described his music as "On par with Varèse," giving him the nickname "The New Colossus of Sounds." His new work, Canções dos Desassossego (Songs of Disquiet), will be written for the Lyris Quartet and soprano Sharon Harms and premiered in 2023. His music has been performed by Sharon Harms and the Composers Conference Ensemble under James Baker (Two Songs from Brooklyn Narcissus), the St. Louis Symphony under David Robertson (Choruses III), pianists Sarah Cahill and Eric Zivian (IV–I), piano duo HereNowHear (Beethausenstro—Castockhoven) and the Lydian String Quartet (Choruses IV). He is the 2022 Guest Composer for the James Tenney Memorial Symposium, composing and collaborating with the New Mexico Contemporary Ensemble.

Castro has a Ph.D. in Composition and Theory from University of California, Davis, and a bachelor's in Music from the Juilliard School in both double bass and composition.

Listen on SoundCloud.