ABOUT
ABOUT
Harry Castle is a British composer, lyricist and music director, currently Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre at Boston University. He works at the intersection of musical theatre, contemporary classical, pop and jazz genres, and is drawn to musical storytelling — he is especially interested in telling stories that center queer and marginalized narratives.
As much in demand for his electronic music as his musical theatre work and pop/jazz originals and arrangements, Harry maintains a busy schedule of projects and commissions across a wide spectrum of musical styles. Some ongoing projects include State of Motion, an original musical exploring competition and success in the fashion influencing industry, and I am your mother; this is your home, an extended work for soprano and ensemble, conceived and written in collaboration with t.r.h. blue, an Ontario-based writer, poet, artist, photographer, and advocate.
Harry is an experienced vocalist, with training in classical, choral, pop, musical theatre and jazz styles, as well as extended vocal techniques. Some recent performance highlights include Handel’s Messiah with Apollo’s Fire, performing solos in Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard with the U-M Chamber Choir, and touring with the Yale Schola Cantorum. Harry recorded six albums for Harmonia Mundi USA with the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, and works regularly as an ensemble vocalist and vocal coach.
As a music director, Harry has worked with many ensembles and casts: he particularly enjoys projects involving new work in contemporary classical, musical theatre or jazz idioms. Some recent highlights include Islander (Finn Anderson & Stewart Melton), Flowers for Mrs Harris (Rachel Wagstaff & Richard Taylor) and The Rink (John Kander & Fred Ebb).
Photo credit: Korrin Dering
A passionate educator, Harry brings his practical experience and poly-stylistic expertise into the classroom. College-level teaching areas include: composition (classical and musical theatre), theory and aural skills, acting through song, musical theatre audition techniques, musical theatre history, cabaret and revue creation, vocal jazz arranging, vocal ensemble skills, and musical theatre ensemble techniques. Harry is currently Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre at Boston University, overseeing the School of Theatre’s Musical Theatre Concentration. He was previously Visiting Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre at Syracuse University, and has held graduate teaching positions in the Composition department at Yale University and the Theory department at the University of Michigan, as well as forming part of the collaborative piano staff for the Musical Theatre department at U-M.
Prior to obtaining his DMA in Composition from the University of Michigan in 2024, Harry graduated with a BA in Music from Clare College, University of Cambridge (studying composition with Richard Causton), and an MA in Composition, Theory and Musical Theatre Writing from Yale University (studying with Kathryn Alexander, Konrad Kaczmarek, Jeanine Tesori & Scott Frankel). He stayed on at Yale for an additional year as a Research Scholar, studying groove and writing electronic music. Harry’s music has been heard at the BBC Proms, the New World Symphony, the Rhode Island International Film Festival, the National Centre for Early Music and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and has been performed by Eleni Katz, the University of Michigan Chamber Choir, the Marea Duo, the Albatross Duo, Margaret Lancaster, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, the Da Capo Chamber Players, the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, and chamber ensembles of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Aurora Orchestra. Awards include: U-M Brehm Prize for Choral Composition, Made at the Red House Residency (Wild Plum Arts/Britten-Pears Foundation), Special Jury Prize (Yale in Hollywood Film Festival), Zodiac International Music Competition (Finalist), BBC Proms Young Composer of the Year, National Centre for Early Music Young Composers’ Award (Finalist), Clare College Carol Competition, Outstanding Arrangement Award (International Competition of Collegiate A Cappella), Paul Mellon Fellowship (Mellon Foundation). Harry’s piece Heroes was a finalist for the 2023 Ivors Classical Awards.
Harry’s music is published in the Kurt Weill Foundation’s Lotte Lenya Songbook, and by North Star Music LLC and Murphy Music Press.
Banner image credit: Xander De Vries