A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Chris Castellanos has enjoyed a prosperous and eclectic musical career.
Las Vegas beginnings
Upon joining the Las Vegas Philharmonic at the age of 19, Chris quickly established himself as a top-call freelancer on the Las Vegas Strip, backing countless headliners—most notably Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Frank Sinatra Jr., Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Robert Goulet, Olivia Newton-John, Peter Cetera, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Kenny G, Yes, Josh Groban’s Las Vegas residencies, Yandel, Michael Bublé, Ricky Martin at the Latin Grammy Awards, Little River Band, Seth MacFarlane, Journey (Greatest Hits live album and DVD), David Foster (Hit Man live album and DVD), and frequent tours with Andrea Bocelli.
Additionally, Chris played more than 1,700 performances during a six-year run of Phantom—The Las Vegas Spectacular, as well as frequently performing in the pits for Spamalot and The Lion King.
Chamber music & new repertoire
In late 2003, Chris found his passion as a chamber musician after joining Dallas Brass for a six-year tenure touring the United States and abroad. In 2009, he left Dallas Brass to join the prestigious Boston Brass as hornist, arranger and co-owner, with whom he presently tours the world more than 180 days per year. In addition to his duties with Boston Brass, Chris is a very active soloist dedicated to the continued promotion of new and distinctive music for the horn.
In 2019, Chris recorded the premiere of Tony Labounty’s Prophecy for horn with Thomas Leslie and the UNLV Wind Orchestra on Klavier Records, earning high acclaim and rave reviews.
“How Castellanos has any lip left at the end is beyond me. By quite some way, this is the best horn playing I have heard in years.”Fanfare Magazine
During the pandemic lockdown, when musicians were not easily able to perform with live accompanists, Chris collaborated with hornist and composer James Naigus to spearhead a consortium and premiere Visions, a new work for horn and fixed media. Most recently, Chris commissioned the three-movement work Shadows of Jazz by Nathan Tanouye for horn, piano and upright bass, which he premiered as a featured artist at the 54th International Horn Symposium.
Education without borders
Passionate about music education, Chris serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Horn at his alma mater, the UNLV School of Music. As an international educator, Chris has covered every U.S. state and more than 40 countries, giving clinics and masterclasses at nearly 200 colleges, universities and conservatories, including The Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, the Sibelius Academy in Finland, the Bruckner Academy of Music in Austria, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and many more.
Additionally, Chris serves as Visiting Ensemble-in-Residence with Boston Brass at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore and on the International Artist Advisory Council for Mahidol University’s College of Music in Thailand.
Beyond the stage
Outside of performing, Chris is the host of the popular podcast Music on the Rocks, which features long-form interviews with some of the best musicians in their fields. Chris also co-owns Pro Elite Music, producer of the high-end, graphene-infused Pro Elite Oil for brass instruments.
Chris has been a Performing and Educational Artist for Yamaha Music Corporation since 2015, giving clinics, concerts and masterclasses worldwide. He currently resides in Utah with his wife, Tina, who enjoys a bustling musical career as Principal Flute of the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Assistant Professor of Flute at BYU in Provo, Utah, and their two children, Lily and Orion.