Biography
Award-Winning Guitarist
A trailblazing, Afro-Colombian, intercultural architect considered by many to be a multi-hyphenate practitioner of cross-genre musicianship (i.e., Classical/Western Art, Ibero-American music, and Commercial music performance on acoustic and electric guitars); multimedia production (i.e., recording and mixing engineer; video director, videographer, and editor); and entrepreneurship (i.e., digital management, media marketing & predictive model creation, enterprise development with a specialization in company leverage techniques), the national and international award-winning guitarist—Jean Pierre (JP) Castillo—aims to bring a revitalization of excitement,
inspiration, and encouragement to foster (1) social empathy, (2) multimodality of students’ artistic careers, and (3) access and inclusivity for music creators all over the world. This mission has been at the core of his endeavors over the last decade.
JP’s company, Castillo Music Enterprises, provides state-of-the-art audio and video production services and digital business consultation. Current clients include: Grammy® & Emmy® award winning multi-instrumentalist and composer, José Valentino; Latin Grammy® nominated piano artist and composer, Bruno Miranda; AVA Digital® Award winning drummer, Derris Lee; and the internationally-acclaimed, Maharajah Flamenco Trio.
On August 2021, the album, “Embarkation: The Resiliency of Humanity Amid Covid-19” (for which JP served as videographer and digital communications marketer), was placed on the Latin Grammy® Nomination ballot. On November 2021, JP’s research documentary, “Getting to the Grammy®s and Beyond: An Insight to Student-Professor Collaborative Albums/Music Video Projects for Promoting Ecological Advocacy and Social Impact”, was selected as one of the eight peer-reviewed research presentations for the Society for Arts Entrepreneurship Education (SAEE) video salon series, in February 2023 the documentary won an Anthem® Award. On January 2022, “Felices Dias” (for which for which JP served as videographer and digital communications marketer) won a Global Music Award.
Moreover, as of 2021, JP serves as the Mentorship Program Coordinator for the flagship professional guitarist network, the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA). In this leadership role, JP organizes and executes strategic initiatives to inspire newfangled artistry, build community, and promote performance, literature, education, and research that is inclusive of cultural expressions across the globe.
Entrenched in facilitating continual victories for his students as dynamic teacher at the university level with a strong virtual guitar studio comprised of students located across the United States, JP aims to enrich and equip the next generations of aspiring creative professions to reimagine and represent the role of guitarists—multifaceted, entrepreneurial, and adaptable.