About me

Guitarist, arranger, and composer Victor Castro was born in Angra do Heroísmo, Azores. He graduated in classical guitar from the Regional Conservatory of Angra do Heroísmo, where he studied with Azorean Carlos Baptista Ávila and with Steven Rings, Timothy Johnson, Miles D. Barford, and Eddy Goldz. He completed his studies with Roberto Hugo (Uruguay).

Victor Castro holds a degree in Music from the Federal University of Maranhão, Brazil. He studied at the University of Aveiro with Paulo Vaz de Carvalho, who was also his supervisor. He has taken masterclasses with renowned guitarists such as David Russell, Ana Vidovic, Fábio Zanon, among others. 

He has recorded 4 CDs, one of them entirely dedicated to the Portuguese Cítara (Guitarra Portuguesa), an instrument that he also plays and teaches. He has performed solo concerts in mainland Portugal and all the Islands of the Azores, Madeira, as well as in Germany, the United States, Argentina, Finland, Spain, and Brazil. He has performed with various Portuguese and foreign musicians. 

In 2005, together with the Azorean guitarist Paulo Cunha, Victor Castro developed the project "Tribute to Carlos Paredes", in which he performs compositions by the famous guitarist on the Coimbra guitar. He was invited to participate in the IV and V Guitar Week in São Luís - Brazil. He has won twice the "Raphael Rabelo" award at the National Guitar Festival of Piauí (FENAVIPI).

Among some highlights of his career, one can mention the premiere of works by various composers, among them: Timothy Johnson, Antero Ávila, Thomas Kupsch, Ubiratan Sousa; the concert of the "June 10th" celebrations for His Excellency the President of the Republic Dr. Jorge Sampaio; guest of the Guitar Cycle of the Coimbra Culture Secretariat and the Francisco Lacerda International Festival; complete works for guitar by Lopes-Graça in concert at the SPA Auditorium, Lisbon.

In 2010 he was distinguished in Lisbon by the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities with the "Talent Award 2009". He toured mainland Portugal and the Azores, performing 22 concerts with his "Victor Castro Trio". He released a series of books: transcriptions of sonatas by Italian composers Baldassare Galuppi and Francesco Gasparini. By Editora AvA, original compositions and his own arrangements.

He played as a soloist with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra (OSB), and with the Orchestra of the State of Maranhão Music School. He taught classical guitar at the Angra do Heroísmo Regional Conservatory (Portugal). He lived in São Luís – MA (Brazil), where he was a professor of classical guitar at the State Music School of Maranhão, UEMA (State University of Maranhão).

Currently, he has his own Music School in Aveiro and still divides his time between solo performance and with other musicians.