Commission: Südwestrundfunk for the Donaueschingen Musiktage 2022

Live recording of the world première, Musica Nova Helsinki, 3 March 2023.

Performers:
Mattie Barbier, trombone
Weston Olencki, trombone
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Janne Nisonen, conductor

Photo: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

where the dark earth bends (2022, rev. 2023), for RAGE Thormbones, orchestra, and electronics

📍Cracow, Poland
🎓AMKP
🎧Composition, Music Theory

Jesús Juan Pablo Bernal Cabello. Compositor mexicano de música experimental

· From Concepción, Chile.
· https://agustincastellonmolina.com/
· agustin.castellon.molina@gmail.com

· Bari, Italy / Leipzig, Germany

Agustín Castellón Molina is a Chilean composer, pianist and educator based in Leipzig, Germany.

He has been trained in Chile, Italy, Germany, Portugal and has received lessons by C. Iannotta, Y. Robin, S. Nemtsov, F. Filidei, C. Czernowin, T. Murail, L. Lim, P. Billone, E. Reiter, F. Bedrossian, among others.

His creative approach integrates poetry, psychology, improvisation and visual arts in a cohesive and articulated process, which generates a wealth of material, such as presence charts, relational diagrams, poetic texts and narrative sketches. The results are characterized by a focus on interpretive depth, technical precision, unconventional use of objects, and meticulously and precisely defined timbral qualities that build dynamic contrasts and layers within the acoustic experience.

In Chile, he graduated with honors in 2016 from the Universidad de Concepción, where he studied piano and music pedagogy. Subsequently, he completed his Bachelor (2020) and Master (2022) in Composition at the Conservatory “Niccolò Piccinni” in Bari, Italy, under the guidance of Luca Belcastro, obtaining both degrees with summa cum laude. He is currently pursuing a Meisterklasse degree in Composition with Claus – Steffen Mahnkopf and Fabien Lévy at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Leipzig and a postgraduate degree in Applied Composition at the ESML, Portugal, with Michele Tadini and Luis Naón, collaborating with ensemble Recherche, Schallfeld and Alex Waite.

His music has been programmed in festivals such as Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik 2024, Festival Ensemble(s) 2024, ARCO – Art, Research and Creation Opus 2024, .abeceda Contemporary Music Festival 2025, ZfGM Festival 2021 – 24, Rondò 2020 / 22, Como Contemporary Festival 2021, Intrecci 2018, and PRISMAS 2015 – 16, his compositions have been broadcast by WDR 3 – Radio, Rai5, Rai Radio 3, Radio CEMAT, awarded prizes in international competitions, including “III ARTSOM Musical Composition Competition 2024”, “Impronta Ensemble 3rd Composition Competition 2023”, “New Music Generation” Composition Competition Kazakhstan 2023, “International Competition 2 Agosto 2022”, “Don Sante Montanaro Prize 2022”, “5th International Composition Competition Appassionato Ensemble 2021”(… ) and have been performed throughout Europe and Latinoamerica.

He has received commissions and collaborated with renowned ensembles in masterclasses, festivals, and competitions, including Ensemble Multilatérale, IEMA – Ensemble, the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Klangforum Wien, Appassionato Ensemble, vocal ensemble Les Métaboles, Divertimento Ensemble, Dissolution Ensemble, ensemble (con)temporary (in)sights, among others. His music has been performed by distinguished artists such as Léo Warynski, Pasquale Corrado, Claudia Chan, Matteo Cesari, Alain Billard (…).

During 2023 and 2024 he lectured composition seminars at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig, and has been an organizational part of the International Cultural Platform “Germina.Cciones … – Primaveras Latinoamericanas”  created by Luca Belcastro, coordinating Workshops in Concepción, Chile, in 2015 – 2016.

From 2024 his scores are published by Edizioni Sconfinarte, Milano.

COMPOSER
Digital Instrumental Music (DIM) for e-guitar and keyboard.
WHAT IS DIM...?
Digital instrumentation music, or DIM, is experimental music in which musical instruments produce sounds digitally rather than acoustically. This digitalisation process allows sounds to be modified and enriched through treatments and modulations.

where the dark earth bends (2022, rev. 2023), for RAGE Thormbones, orchestra, and electronics

Clara Iannotta