Castleman, Charles (Martin)

American violinist and teacher; b. Quincy, Mass., May 22, 1941. He began violin lessons at the age of four with Ondricek. When he was only six he appeared as a soloist with Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orch. At nine, he made his solo recital in Boston. He was a student of Galamian at the Curtis Inst. of Music in Philadelphia (1957–63), and also received coaching from Gingold, Szeryng, and Oistrakh. He likewise pursued his education at Harvard Univ. and the Univ. of Pa. In 1964 he made his formal debut at N.Y.’s Town Hall. In 1970 he organized the Quartet Program, an innovative workshop in solo and chamber music performances. It celebrated its 30^thanniversary under his direction in 1999. From 1972 to 1975 he was a member of the New String Trio of N.Y In 1975 he became prof, of violin at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y He also played in the Raphael Trio from 1975, which made tours of the U.S. in a series of Haydn, Beethoven, and Dvorak cycles. The trio also played much contemporary music, including Bischof s Trio 89 at the Vienna Festival in 1989. On May 2, 1981, Castleman was soloist in the premiere of Amram’s Violin Concerto with the St. Louis Sym. Orch. under Slatkin’s direction. That same year, he performed all of Ysayë’s 6 Sonatas for Solo Violin at N.Y/s Alice Tully Hall. His engagements as a soloist have led to appearances with orchs. in Boston, Chicago, N.Y., Philadelphia, Mexico City, Moscow, and elsewhere. He has also appeared at many festivals in the U.S. and abroad. As a teacher, he has presided over numerous master classes around the globe.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire