Toni Castells

Toni Castells
Background information
Origin Barcelona, Spain
Occupation(s) Composer
Instruments Guitar, clarinet, piano
Website www.tonicastells.com

Toni Castells is a Spanish composer. Originally from Barcelona, he now resides in London, where he founded the momo music project.

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.[1] 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.[2] At the age of 14 he won the III Young Composers Competition, organized in St. Joan de Vilatorrada (Barcelona), with his experimental composition “Images.”[3][4]

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.[1] He subsequently worked as a recording engineer at the Royal College of Music, and now lectures in Music Technology at the London College of Music and Imperial College London.[5][6]

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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

While in London, 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[5]

Life from Light

Light from Life is a large scale live musical show that premiered at the Union Chapel in London on November 15, 2012. While it largely takes the form of an opera, Castells has integrated the operatic components with contemporary and pop music in order to deviate from the traditional operatic form. The settings include the use of digital art. The work also features some graphic depictions of sex, as well as lines taken directly from Wikipedia pages on the subject of sex.[2] 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".[12] The central theme of the work also revolves around sexual intercourse, with the goal of providing a level of sex education that can appeal to youth in different cultures. After the debut of the opera in London the piece began to tour in other parts of Europe and Asia.[13][14]

Discography

Artist Title Format Label Year
Herzia Coses que Passen CD AZ Records 1999
momo Unharmed CD Instant Attraction Records 2007
momo momo Live @ Bush Hall (Buy Music Get Art) Limited Edition CD Instant Attraction Records 2008
momo Fake Boobs Online Single Instant Attraction Records 2009
momo Sexual Intercourse Online Double Single Instant Attraction Records 2010
momo Piano Works Online Album Instant Attraction Records 2011
momo 1.60.3600 Online Album Instant Attraction Records 2011
momo Ob Online Album Instant Attraction Records 2011
momo Motherland Online Album Instant Attraction Records 2011
momo Creation CD Instant Attraction Records 2011

References

  1. 1 2 Stuart, Julia (2007-09-12). "Pop goes Mozart: New marriage of classical and rock - Features - Music". The Independent. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  2. 1 2 Matilda Battersby (2012-11-01). "Wikipedia-inspired opera containing graphic sexual description to make London debut - News - Classical". The Independent. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  3. ↑ Diari de Girona. "El grup català Momo fascina a Londres amb una proposta innovadora - Diari de Girona". Diaridegirona.cat. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  4. ↑ "Toni Castells". Momomusic.net. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  5. 1 2 "Staff profile". Research.uwl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  6. ↑ Music Technology Course Listing, Imperial College London
  7. ↑ Robert H (2012-11-08). "A world of classical music: Life from Light - interview with Toni Castells". Planet Hugill. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  8. ↑ "momo: Unharmed". Magnatune.com. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  9. ↑ "Instant Attraction Records - All albums released by Instant Attraction Records". gogoyoko. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  10. ↑ "CD Cover". Edvarda.com. 2011-02-07. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  11. ↑ "Love in the Sky". Love in the Sky. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  12. ↑ "‘Voice’ of Wikipedia: Opera about sex to premiere in London". RT. November 2, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  13. ↑ Nicole Dastur Arsiwala (December 2, 2012). "Symphony of internet and intercourse". Times of India. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  14. ↑ International life. "Sexual Education Opera". Internationallife.tv. Retrieved 2013-02-13.

External links

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