Modules
FDMT Effective Practice
|
Tony Castro has had a long and successful career as a freelance Conductor, Musical Director, keyboard player, vocal coach, composer and educator, a brief summary of which includes the following;
CONDUCTOR/MUSICAL DIRECTOR City of Angels (Royal Academy of Music); Phantom of the Opera (Cameron Mackintosh/West End); Miss Saigon (Cameron Mackintosh/West End); The Iron Man (Young Vic/Pete Townshend); Moll Flanders (Lyric Hammersmith); Side by Side by Sondheim (Tour of Far); Dick Wittington (E&B/Birmingham); Is there life after High School? (Donmar Warehouse); The Threepenny Opera (Contact Theatre); Happy End (RSC); Sweeney Todd (Central School); La Boheme (UK tour); Taming of the Shrew (RSC); Pied Piper of Hamlin (London Mozart Players); Gala Concerts (Piccadilly, Duke of York’s); Joseph and his Technicolor dreamcoat (NYMT Jersey); S’Wonderful (Guildford); Les Pommes d’api (Tour of France); Grand Hotel and Into the Woods (CSSD); Oklahoma (Bexley Academy); Honk! (Oxted); Les Petites Rats (NYMT/Royal Ballet); Have you seen this girl? (Broomhill Opera)
PIANO/KEYBOARDS Les Miserables (Cameron Mackintosh/West End); Wonderful Town (Bill Kenwright/West End); Snoopy (West End, Cheltenham); The Second Mrs Tanqueray (RNT on tour); Amadeus (RNT/West End); Wild Honey (RNT); Don Juan (RNT); Toad of Toad Hall (Bill Kenwright/Mermaid); Street Scene (ENO); Waste (West End); Chess (Churchill Theatre); [other] Annie (NYMT Edinburgh – new dance arrangements); Lord of the Flies (Directed NYMT workshop); BRIT Showcase (Directed BRIT Show on South Bank 2004-07).
Compositions include the film score for the cult horror short Lonely Hearts, the dance piece First Things First (commission), the orchestral narrative Francesco de la Vega (commission), and the award-winning book of new nursery rhymes, Early in the Morning (words by Charles Causley). He wrote the music and lyrics (with Eleanor Templeman) for the new musical SINTA! He also contributed music and lyrics to the US musical Dracul, including the single "I just want you to know”, shortlisted for the soundtrack of the movie "October".
Tony has given workshops and masterclasses on musical theatre at a variety of venues, including the Royal Academy of Music, The Actors’ Centre, GSA, LIPA, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Goldsmiths College, in Denmark, and the 2006 Cardiff International Festival of Musical Theatre. Tony’s passion for developing new works and writers led to his involvement with the Vivian Ellis Prize, the Mercury group, the Oxford University/Mackintosh MT workshops and the Quest for a New Musical. He was Music Consultant on Dracul (San Diego) and Houdini (New York).
Tony also has considerable experience in educational management, course design and assessment methods, and is a qualified teacher (QTS). He ran Higher Education performing arts degrees and departments at Central School of Speech and Drama, and Rose Bruford College, was Principal of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, and Director of Music at The BRIT School. Tony was Education Consultant to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). He was a Subject Specialist Quality Assessor for the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and an External Examiner. He has written parts of the new national BTEC Music qualification for Edexcel, for whom he also works as an External Verifier and GCSE moderator. |
|
