“An astounding technique, and a superior control over his musical material” La Jornada, Mexico

“A special artistic bearing, a presence that immediately grasps the audience’s attention, refinement and elegance” El Universal, Mexico

“An exceptionally gifted young cellist and musician” Janos Starker

“A superb young cellist and musician” Aldo Parisot

Cellist Jesús Castro-Balbi performs internationally to critical acclaim as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Recent highlights include concerto engagements with the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, Cannes (France), Aarhus (Denmark), Xalapa, Aguascalientes (Mexico), the National Symphony in Lima (Peru), the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Texas Christian University Symphony in the premieres of the Concierto Indio by Edgar Valcárcel and of Samuel Zyman’s Triple Concerto. Mr. Castro-Balbi has collaborated with conductors Giancarlo Andretta, Germán Gutiérrez, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Emmanuel Plasson, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Arild Remmereit, Joel Sachs, and Lawrence Leighton Smith. His performances have been broadcast on BBC World, Japanese public television NHK, Korean national television KBS, European television TV5-Arte, and in the U.S. on WNYC, WGBH, on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase, and on National Public Radio’s Performance Today.

A passionate chamber musician, Dr. Castro-Balbi is the cellist of the Castro-Balbi/Lin Duo with pianist Gloria Lin and of Clavier Trio with violinist Arkady Fomin and pianist David Korevaar. Dr. Castro-Balbi is the founder and director of the TCU Cello Ensemble and of the Faculty & Friends Chamber Music Series, a showcase of collegiality and excellence at TCU. Festival include La Jolla SummerFest in California; Mimir in Fort Worth, Texas; Norfolk, Connecticut; Music in the Mountains in Durango, Colorado; Aguascalientes, Mexico; the Bartók Festival in Szombathely (Hungary); the Caracas (Venezuela), Manchester (England), and Beauvais (France) international cello festivals, and the Isaac Stern Third International Chamber Music Encounters in Jerusalem, Israel.

Dr. Castro-Balbi presented the world premieres of works by Joan Guinjoan, Octavio Vásquez; the US premiere of the Trio No. 2 by Salvatore Sciarrino at the Lincoln Center Festival, the New York premiere of the Cello Concerto by Mark-Anthony Turnage with the New Juilliard Ensemble; and the New York premiere of the Suite for Solo Cello by John Harbison. He gave the first recordings of the Suite for Two Cellos by Samuel Zyman with cellist Carlos Prieto, and the Sonata by Anthony Newman with the composer at the piano. Several works have been written for Dr. Castro-Balbi, including Reflection by Mr. Zyman, the Concerto Indio by Edgar Valcárcel, and the Rapsodia Andina by Esteban Benzecry.

Among other distinctions, Dr. Castro-Balbi received the First Prize at the First “Carlos Prieto” Latin American Cello Competition in Mexico; the Aldo Parisot Prize at Yale; and the Schwartz Foundation - Salon de Virtuosi Award in New York City. He served as a juror to the 2002 and 2004 “Prieto” International Cello Competitions, and has presented master-classes and lectures at the Boston Conservatory, The Juilliard School, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Yale School of Music, as well as in Korea, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.

Dr. Castro-Balbi is a graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Lyon (France), Indiana University at Bloomington, Yale, and of The Juilliard School, where he also served on the Pre-College faculty. He studied cello with Aldo Parisot and Janos Starker and chamber music with Boris Berman, the late Rostislav Dubinsky, Joseph Kalischtein, Fred Sherry and members of the Amadeus, Juilliard, Ravel and Tokyo String Quartets. Together with his wife, pianist Gloria Lin and son Joaquín he resides in Fort Worth, where he is the cello professor at Texas Christian University.