José Vicente Castelló

International Visiting Professor of French Horn

Born in Alicante, Spain, José Vicente Castelló is one of the most distinguished horn players of his generation. He is currently Professor of Horn at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in Germany and the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) in Barcelona, Spain, and serves as Principal Horn of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. 

He studied at the Conservatory of Music in Alicante before continuing his training at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid under the guidance of Professor Radovan Vlatković. During his time at the Reina Sofía School, he was recognised as the institution’s most outstanding student for two consecutive years, receiving the award from Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain. Alongside his musical studies, he also pursued Hispanic Philology at the University of Alicante. 

José Vicente has received numerous international honours, including the Bärenreiter Urtext Prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 2005 and an Honourable Mention at the Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2007. 

From 2001 to 2006, he was Principal Horn of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. He also performs regularly with Orchestra Mozart in Bologna and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. He regards these three ensembles, all founded by Claudio Abbado, as having played a significant role in his artistic and personal development. 

He is a frequent guest principal horn with leading orchestras including the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. Throughout his career, he has worked with many of the world’s most celebrated conductors, including Mariss Jansons, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Lorin Maazel, Bernard Haitink, Daniele Gatti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Andris Nelsons, Sir Neville Marriner and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. As a soloist, he has appeared with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and the Sochi Festival Orchestra. 

An active chamber musician, José Vicente performs regularly at major festivals across Europe, the United States and China. He has collaborated with internationally renowned artists including Tabea Zimmermann, Leif Ove Andsnes, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Mitsuko Uchida, Yuri Bashmet, Igor Levit and Kim Kashkashian, as well as members of the Emerson, Guarneri, Casals, Juilliard and Tetzlaff quartets. 

Since 2010, he has served as Artistic Director of Músics en Residència, a chamber music festival based in Alella, near Barcelona.