Toni Castells

Toni Castells is a Spanish composer. Originally from Barcelona, he resides in London, where he composes, records and performs his own music. In 2007 he naturalised as a British citizen
Early Music Career.
Castells entered music school at the age of five, where he studied classical guitar, clarinet and piano, as well as musical composition. He toured Europe multiple times as a member of several youth orchestras. By the age of 12, Castells started his first band Korrefok, a folk-rock band where he wrote the music and played the keyboards. After winning local band competitions, the band was signed by AZ Records under the name Herzia. Their debut album, "Coses que Passen", was released in 1999. At the age of 14 he was awarded third prize ex aequo at the III Young Composers Competition, organized in St. Joan de Vilatorrada (Barcelona), with his experimental composition “Images.”
London and momo.
In 2000, Castells moved to London, where he worked as a sound engineer for Jose Maria Cano of the Spanish pop group Mecano. He subsequently worked as a recording engineer at the Royal College of Music, and now lectures in Sound Technology and Music Technology at the London College of Music and Imperial College London.
In 2006, Castells started momo, a music project that merges the varied influences of classical, pop, opera, electronica and poetry, along with performances that combine the music with visual arts. momo's debut "Unharmed" was first released digitally in 2007. Featuring the vocals of Spanish singer Elisabeth Rodergas (better known as Beth), the album reached the iTunes Top 20 download charts. Castells founded Instant Attraction Records as a vehicle for releasing momo's music, and subsequently released "Unharmed" as a physical release, along with several more albums over the years.
Life from Light (2012).
'Light from Life' is a chamber video-opera that premiered at the Union Chapel in London on November 15, 2012. Castells deviates from the traditional operatic form and his compositions largely take the form of an oratorio, including multimedia and video art elements taking inspiration from Steve Reich's video-operas.
‘Life from Light’ was inspired by an eponymous chapter of the 2012 BBC nature documentary series ‘How To Grow A Planet’, in which Professor Iain Stewart describes the mechanisms and evolutionary forces that allowed life to appear on planet Earth, finally paving the way for human civilisation. Castells states that the piece revolves around the Charles Darwin quote "the impossibility of conceiving this immense and wonderful universe, including man with his capacity for looking far backwards and far into futurity, as the result of blind chance or necessity". Thus, the question about our ultimate origin and purpose becomes the central theme of the piece, a question through which Castells explores what it means to be human, our relationship with our planet and the natural world, and on how our actions are creating irreversible damage to both.
The work also features some graphic depictions of sex, as well as lines taken directly from Wikipedia pages on the subject of sex. Sexual reproduction is seen by Castells as central to the evolutionary forces that have forged life and human civilisation. Some observers have seen in the piece the intention of providing a level of sex education that can appeal to youth in different cultures, with the aim of raising awareness on the increasing banalisation of sex and sexual intercourse amongst young people.
'Life from Light' was readapted in 2014 by invitation of Tete-a-Tete Opera and, sponsored by the Arts Council England, was performed over two nights at London's Kings Place Hall One on August 7 and 8, 2014.
2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal? (2016).
‘2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal?’ is a composition for small chamber ensemble, electronics, two voices and choir that premiered at St. James's Piccadilly in London on July 6, 2016. A private performance was held at Cowdray Park on July 9, 2016. Again the composer deviates from the traditional operatic form combining operatic voices with elements of popular music, downtempo electronica and sound art. The piece was written for soprano, countertenor, piano trio and mixed choir and features sonifications of light curves captured by NASA’s Kepler space observatory.
“2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal” was originally an article published on Time Magazine in 2011 by Lev Grossman. The article features computer engineer and futurologist Ray Kurzweil, Director of Engineering at Google Inc., describing the advent of Technological Singularity, a new era in which man and machine will finally merge allowing us to prolong life indefinitely, effectively making man immortal. Through this paradigm of the future Castells explores our bad relationship with death and the efforts of our technocratic society to overcome it. Through the piece this view is juxtaposed to the one of philosopher Alan Watts who in his teachings argued that in nature's game there's a purpose to dying, that it is not natural for us to wish to prolong life indefinitely and that the idea that death is a terrible thing is a tremendous disease from which our culture in particular suffers. Castells states that the piece allowed him to overcome his own fear of death.
Hhumann X (2018).
'Hhumann X' is a composition for small chamber ensemble, electronics, two voices and choir that premiered at LSO St. Luke's on 20 October 2018. The composition was inspired by the findings of the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness published in December 2014 that stated that in the UK over 9 million adults often or always feel lonely. The piece is an exploration of social isolation in an era of technological hyper-connectedness and its premiere featured More Than Just a Choir, a community choir based in North London that works with people suffering from mental illness and social isolation. Castells stated: “I like to raise awareness about the double-edged effects of modernisation upon Western society and loneliness is one of these big issues.” The premiere received the support of the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust.
Artistic Collaborations.
Recorded Music
Castells' debut album "Unharmed" (2006) featured Spanish singer Elisabeth Rodergas (better known as Beth), who had represented Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 finishing in eighth position and who famously British commentator Terry Wogan referred to as the "Kylie Minogue in dreadlocks". The album also featured Dublin-born singer Roberta Howett, finalist in the first UK series of television talent show The X Factor in 2004 under the mentorship of Sharon Osbourne. The album also featured New Zealander soprano Amelia Whiteman and jazz singer Fran Hardcastle.
In 2010 Castells started his collaboration with American soprano Rebecca Nelsen, resident soprano at the Vienna Volksoper. Nelsen features on the albums 'Creation' (2011) and 'Slaves of Time' (2016).
Live Performances
Castells collaborated with the Sacconi Quartet in the live adaptation of Unharmed which was premiered in Bush Hall in 2007. For this performance Castells also collaborated with visual artist and photographer Conor Masterson who created a visual backdrop for the show. For future performances of the piece during 2008 and 2009 Castells collaborated with Icelandic visual artist and photographer Maria Kjartansdottir.
For the premiere of 'Life from Light' at Union Chapel in 2012 Castells collaborated with award-winning British soprano of Portuguese and Iraqi descent Susan Jiwey. For the same performance he also collaborated with British countertenor Oliver Gerrish and video artist Thomas Yeomans. Gerrish would become a regular collaborator on Castells' future works. For the performances of 'Life from Light' at Kings Place in 2014 Castells collaborated for the first time with British soprano Meeta Raval, finalist in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in 2011. For these performances Castells also collaborated with crossover British soprano Camilla Kerslake and Cuban jazz trumpeter Yelfris Valdes.
For the performances of '2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal' in St. James's Piccadilly and Cowdray House in 2016 Castells collaborated with Alexandra Kennedy, Helios Voices and the Aquinas Piano Trio.
For the premiere of ‘Hhumann X’ at LSO St Luke's in 2018, Castells collaborated with Spanish pianist José Menor, violinist Harriet MacKenzie and soprano Honey Rouhani. José Menor was nominated the same year for a Latin Grammy Award on the Best Classical Album category for ‘Enrique Granados: Goyescas’ (IBS Classical 2018).
Other Collaborations
Through 2017 and 2018 Castells starts a writing collaboration with British singer-songwriter Catty Pearson, co-writing some of the songs of her 2018 independently released debut EP ‘Time Tells Me’. The EP was produced by Chris Kimsey, best known for his work producing The Rolling Stones, and recorded at legendary Olympic Sound Studios. Castells has also collaborated in external projects with crossover artists Hayley Westenra, Noah Stewart and Laura Wright.
In January 2019 Castells collaborates with British fashion designer Liam Hodges to provide the soundtrack of Hodge's presentation at London Fashion Week of his 2019 Fall/Winter collection entitled ‘Mutations in the 4th Dimension’.
During 2019 Toni collaborates with artist Cyril de Commarque creating the soundscape for his multi-media installation ‘Artificialis’. As part of its special Artist-In-Residency programme, the Saatchi Gallery presented the piece alongside another multi-media installation by Kate Daudy both created as a response to 'Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh', which will be displayed at Saatchi Gallery for six months from November to May 2020. Both artists invite the viewer to contemplate notions of legacy and transition. Before coming to London, 'Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh' attracted more than 1.3 million visitors in Paris, becoming the most-visited exhibition in French history.
Music, Art and Philanthropy.
Castells has been involved a variety of events that combine music, art and philanthropy. He created Buy Music, Get Art in 2008. For the project, held at Maddox Arts in Mayfair, pieces of contemporary art were sold as the covers of limited edition CDs. Another Castells project was Love in the Sky. Launched on June 30, 2009 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, the exhibition featured collaborative works from a collection of artists, which were auctioned off that night to benefit Coram, a charity for underprivileged children. More than £8,000 was raised. He is also the founder of Xmas Rocks for Charity, an annual concert at the Notting Hill Community Church to raises money for Depression Alliance and the Mood Foundation.