Gustavo Castillo
baritone
About this Artist
Baritone Gustavo Castillo, who comes from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, owes his early music education to El Sistema, the renowned music project in his home country. From 2016 to 2018, Castillo was a member of the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where he started his stage career singing Peter in Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel and Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia for children.
Recent projects include his debut as Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, as Renato in Un ballo in maschera at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, and as Guido di Monforte in I vespri siciliani at Teatro Comunale di Bologna. He also sings concerts in Montreal, San Diego, and Los Angeles and makes his debut with the MDR Symphony Orchestra under Dennis Russell Davies as the baritone soloist in Antonio Estévez’ Cantata criolla.
Future projects bring him back to Stadttheater Klagenfurt as Lescaut in Manon Lescaut. He will appear as Jake Wallace in La fanciulla del West at the Teatro Regio Torino and will also make his debut as Giorgio Germont in La traviata at the New National Theatre in Tokyo.
Recent engagements include his debut as Marcello in La bohème in Japan as well as his debut as Posa in Don Carlos at Theater Bern. He sang Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Peter in Hansel und Gretel and Mirko Zeta in Die lustige Witwe at Teatro Lirico in Cagliari, and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor at Oviedo Opera. He has appeared as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia at La Scala in Milan and as Foscari in Il bravo by Mercadante at Wexford Festival Opera.
In concert, he sang Estevez’ Cantata criolla with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the May Festival. He also performed Ginastera’s Estancia with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel and Orff’s Carmina burana at the Teatro Verdi in Salerno.
His debut as Schaunard in La bohème at age 25 was followed by performances as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Sagrestano in Tosca, and Belcore in L’elisir d’amore. He also sang Valentin in Diana Daniele’s Faust and Dandini in La cenerentola for children, an adaptation of Rossini’s work by Alexander Krampe.
His extensive concert repertoire includes works by A. Faist, Duruflé’s and Fauré’s Requiems, Mozart’s Krönungsmesse, Bach’s Magnificat, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, among many others.