Our Team

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Enrique Castillo began playing the violin at the age of 11 within the National System of Youth Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela. He spent eight formative years there, successively joining the Children's Orchestra of San Antonio de los Altos and the Regional Orchestra of Altos Mirandinos, before joining the country's professional orchestras.

 

At 18, he was invited to join the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Caracas, where he won third prize in the internal competition. While a student at the Latin American Violin Academy under the direction of Luis Miguel González, he successfully auditioned for the Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, the nation’s artistic heritage, becoming one of the youngest members in its history. As a winner of the competition for the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of Caracas conducted by Rodolfo Saglimbeni, he has collaborated with great conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Christophe Talmont, Domingo García Hindoyan, and Gustavo Dudamel. He has also participated in several Latin Grammy Award-nominated recordings.

 

After having been accepted into several European conservatories, Enrique settled in Paris, where he studied with Pierre Foucheneret, Sébastien Surel, and Thibault Vieux. Following his studies, he taught violin in several conservatories and foundations, notably within the French national education system and the Vareille Foundation, where his pedagogical vocation was born along with his desire to use music to transmit human and social values.

 

After settling in Switzerland, Enrique earned his bachelor’s degree at the Geneva University of Music under the direction of Sergey Ostrovsky. He becomes concertmaster of the Sinfonietta Orchestra of Geneva and performs as a soloist in France, Italy, and Switzerland, interpreting concertos by Beethoven, Bruch, Vivaldi, and Saint-Saëns, among others. He is also invited by the Geneva Symphony Ensemble.

 

He is invited as co-concertmaster to the Orchestre Prométhée in Paris and collaborates regularly with the Anima Orchestra, with which he performs as concertmaster and soloist on international tours. He has played in prestigious venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Teresa Carreño Theatre, and the Social Action Centre for Music in Caracas. He has participated in masterclasses with Pavel Vernikov, Natalia Prischepenko, and Silvia Marcovici, among others, and has been invited to play with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. He was also selected for the Grażyna Bacewicz International Competition in Poland.

 

As the founder of Musica en Allegro, he works to abolish borders between the artistic elite and the most vulnerable audiences, organising concerts in refugee shelters, nursing homes, mental health institutions, and orphanages. Convinced that music should not be a privilege but a bridge between human beings, he makes art an instrument of inclusion, sharing, and social transformation.

 

He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in music pedagogy, driven by a deep passion for teaching and a conviction that music can be a powerful vehicle for social equality.

He currently plays a Justin Derazey violin, dated 1890.