Richard Belcastro

Richard Belcastro (b. 1976) is an active composer and musical activist in the Philadelphia area. His music has been called "an eclectic blend of melodic and rhythmic elements of Jazz and Rock and Roll with a uniquely contemporary harmonic vocabulary" - The NY Concert Review. His music is composed for a variety of instrumental combinations ranging from the very traditional to the distinctly odd as well as ventures into electro-acoustic music and purely electronic explorations. Belcastro has enjoyed commissions and performances from the PRISM Saxophone Quartet, pianist Marilyn Nonken, Network for New Music, The Serafin String Quartet, saxophonist Brian Sacawa, the Avian Orchestra, the AUROS Group for New Music and numerous others as well as having his music heard in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall and Philadelphia’s Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. His music has been included in the Gothenburg Guitar Society’s new music festival in Sweden, Boston’s COAXIAL festival for Electro-Acoustic Music & the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. He has also received grants and awards from The Meet the Composer Foundation, ASCAP/SEAMUS, The Philadelphia Cultural Alliance & New Sounds Music Inc. Belcastro studied music composition at the University of California in Davis, Brandeis University and the University of Pennsylvania under composers Ross Bauer, Eric Chasalow, Andrew Frank, Pablo Ortiz, David Rakowski, Jay Reise and Anna Weisner. In addition to his work as a composer he is also the Executive Director of the Chamber Music NOW! Annual Concert Series in Philadelphia (www.chambermusicnow.org) and the Artistic Director of the DCCC Performing Arts Concert Series (www.dccc.edu/performingArts) where he is focused on bringing the most talented and entertaining performers from around the world to the eyes and ears of the Philadelphia area community in unique musical productions and collaborative projects between a variety of arts and media. He recently left his position as Assistant Director of Education and Community Partnerships for the Philadelphia Orchestra to serve as Assistant Professor of Music at Delware County Community College in Media, PA. His work serves to better connect diverse artistic communities and most importantly to excite and revitalize the classical music audience in and outside of Philadelphia.