Agustín Castilla-Avila

Agustín Castilla-Ávila (born June 15, 1974 in Jerez de la Frontera , Spain ) is a Spanish composer .

Live and act

Agustín Castilla-Ávila was born in Jerez de la Frontera, where he began his musical training at the Conservatory. He then studied at the Conservatorio Superior de Sevilla with Josefina Calero and graduated with the Titulo Superior de Guitarra. In 1998 he received a scholarship from the Fundación La Caixa and the British Council for a master’s degree at the London College of Music with guitarist Carlos Bonell. He then earned a Postgraduate Diploma and Masters Degree from Robert Brightmore and David Miller at the Guildhall School of Music. In 2001 he completed a postgraduate course in guitar with Isabel Siewers at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. At the same time he studied with Frank Koonce for a doctorate in musical arts studies at Arizona State University; there he also worked as a teaching assistant. From 2004 he studied composition with Adriana Hölszky and with Reinhard Febel at the Mozarteum . He also studied composition with Alexander Müllenbach at the Conservatoire du Luxembourg.

He attended guitar master classes with D. Russell and M. Barrueco, R. Dyens and others. He has attended master composition courses with S. Sciarrino, T. Marco, C. Halffter, A. Posadas, J. Kaipainen, J. Tiensuu, K. Schwertsik and others. 1994–95 he was the youngest guitar professor at the Conservatorio Profesional de Ceuta and from 1995–98 he taught at the Conservatorio Elemental de Lucena in Spain.

He worked as a composer at the IV and V Bolivar Hall Guitar Festival London, Guildhall Contemporary Music Festival, Salzburg Strings Festival, Salzburg Biennale, Salzburg Aspects, West-Eastern Harmony Symposium 2007, Hallein City Festival 2007, stART 2007, Rocník Medzinárodného Festivalu Banska Bystrica , IG Night of Composers, New Faces New Dances 2008 Salzburg, Austrian Microtonal Music Week, Hallein International Guitar Festival, Sävellyspaja-Avanti! 2009, Spanish Evenings in San Petersburg, Festival European Weeks Passau, International University of Santo Tomás Guitar Festival in Manila, FIMna, Congress Microtonality Stuttgart, Summer Academy Salzburg, Dark Days Festival Reykjavik, Passauer Saiten, Kibla Maribor, Schlossfestspiele Marburg etc. with.

In 2013 he received the annual music grant from the State of Salzburg.

His music was performed by D. Russell-Davies, S. Fontanelli, J. Kalitzke, T. Ceccherini, A. Soriano, H. Lintu (Avanti! Chamber Orchestra), H. Schellenberger (Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla), K. Hiller , C. Chamorro et al. a. conducted and recorded by ORF in Austria. Yvonne Zehner, Jeff Copeland, Joseph Mirandilla, Gunnar Berg Ensemble u. a. recorded his music on CD. He has published for Doblinger Verlag, Trekel Verlag, Da Vinci Edition, Verlag Neue Musik and Bergmann Edition.

He is Vice-President of the International Society for Ekmelic Music in Austria. He has lectured at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Escuela Reina Sofia in Madrid, Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore and other major musical centers.

He has composed works for various combinations, from solo to orchestra, choreographies, theater or five chamber operas.

bibliography

• Aguzzi, Andrea. Interview with Agustin Castilla-Avila . Neuguitars Blog, July 2017 ( online )

• Bartos, Katarzyna: Zakomponowac. In Sound Ambiguity 2. Wrocław, 2015.

• Castilla-Ávila, Agustín: Agustín Castilla-Ávila on his music. In Collegium Musicum Magazine Lviv, Ukraine. Collegium Musicum, December 2015 ( online )

• Castilla-Ávila, Agustín: Microtonality on the Guitar: Castilla-Ávila´s 36 Divisions of the Scale. In Sound Ambiguity 3. Wrocław, 2016.

• Castilla-Ávila, Agustín: Still-Leben mit Stille / Still Life with Silence. Mackinger Verlag, 2018.

• Castilla-Ávila, Agustín: The Guitar and the Instrumental Techniques Interchange. In Sound Ambiguity 4. Wrocław, 2018.

• Castilla-Ávila, Agustín: The Value of Music and the Value of Silence. In Research on Contemporary Composition Conference. University of North Georgia, 2017.

• Castilla-Ávila, Agustín: The Value of Music and the Value of Silence. In Sound Ambiguity 4. Wrocław, 2018.

• Castilla-Ávila, Agustín: Writing Microtones for Guitar. In Collection on theory and practice of microtonal music in Central and Eastern Europe. Ljubljana University Press, 2018 (In Preparation).

• Gratzer, Wolfgang, On musical polyciopia and democratization, Agustín Castilla-Ávila (Salzburg) in conversation with Wolfgang Gratzer. In rehearsal processes. Br: Rombach Freiburg 2018.

• Jewanski, Jörg and Düchting, Hajo. Music and visual arts in the 20th century: encounters, touches, influences. Kassel University Press, 2009.

• Jedrzejewski, Franck. Dictionnaire des Musiques microtonales. L'Harmattan editions. Paris 2014.

• Melcher, Iris: portrait interview: Agustín Castilla-Ávila. In Guitar Current 2011, No. 4, (115).

• Schneider, John: The contemporary guitar. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015

Publications

• Caged Music I . Bergmann Edition Copenhagen

• Caged Music II . Bergmann Edition Copenhagen

• Caged Music II (violin and piano version). International Ekmelic Music Society Edition

• Caged Music III . Bergmann Edition Copenhagen

• Caged Music IV . Bergmann Edition Copenhagen

• Chakral landscape with a heart . Da Vinci Edition Osaka

• Once upon a time . International Ekmelic Music Society Edition

• Etimología del Diálogo . Da Vinci Edition Osaka

• Five O'clock . Doblinger Verlag Vienna

• Hurrian song . Verlag Neue Musik Berlin

• Justo's way . Da Vinci Edition Osaka

• Laura's song . Doblinger Verlag Vienna

• Once . Bergmann Edition Copenhagen

• Picassienne . Doblinger Verlag Vienna

• Preludio y Postludio . Bergmann Edition Copenhagen

• Presentimiento . Doblinger Verlag Vienna

• Tres Momentos Microtonales . Bergmann Edition Copenhagen

• Tambores y Tamboras . Joachin Trekel Verlag Hamburg

• The Noble Truths . Verlag Neue Musik Berlin

• Tres dreary trios . Verlag Neue Musik Berlin

• Unfantasy me . Da Vinci Edition Osaka

CDs

• “Arvoles yoran por luvyas” for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble. Maria Hegele and Ensemble Acrobat. “Remembering for the future”. IG Composers Edition, Austria.

• “Aufs Paradies”, (portrait CD). Yvonne Zehner (Guitar), Peter Baumgardt (Speaker), Andronikos Karamperis (Guitar), Noiz Guitar Duo and Athenaeum Guitar Trio. Coproduction with Festival European Weeks Passau, Germany.

• “Caged Music II” for 2 guitars. Noiz Guitar Duo. KSG Publishing, Germany.

• “Duerme Tesoro” for mezzo-soprano, violin and guitar. Gudrun Olafsdottir and Roncesvalles Duo. Abu Records, Iceland.

• “Il Velo di Iside” for microtonal guitar. Giacomo Fiore. Spectropol Records, USA.

• “Landschaft am See mit Kometen” for Flute, Violoncello and Guitar. Gunnar Berg Ensemble, Edition 7, Austria.

• “Nostalgia” (portrait CD). Katharina Schwarz (soprano), Bernd Lambauer (tenor), Yvonne Zehner (guitar), Barbara Blumenstingl (flute). Zay Records, Germany.

• “Once” and “Preludio and Postludio” for solo guitar. Detlev Bork. La mà de guido, Spain.

• “Preludio para antes de la Música” and “Danza”, for Guitar Quartet. Mexican Guitar Quartet. Victoria Records, Mexico.

• “Sakura” and “Tres Momentos Microtonales”, for microtonal guitar. Joseph Mirandilla. Zay Records, Germany.

• “Suite Veleña” for solo guitar. Jeff Copeland. OE, USA

DVDs

• "Unfantasy me!" for String Quartet. Acrobat Ensemble. “20 Years of IG Composers” University Mozarteum Productions, 2012, Austria

• “Listen, this is how your soul lives” for Choir. Belcanto Choir Salzburg. “Night of the Composers 2012” University Mozarteum Productions, 2013, Austria

Web links

• Doblinger Musik-Verlag
• Mozarteum (information about the artist)
• http://castilla-avila.com/index.html
• https://www.youtube.com/user/castillaavila1974