1. Nominated students must be current members of an instrumental ensemble at your institution. 

2. Nominating directors must hold active membership in CBDNA. 

3. All nominations and recordings must be submitted online by February 10, 2026.

 

4. A participation fee of $65 per student will be due for all accepted musicians. No money is due for nomination. 

5. Students will be notified through their director of their acceptance. 

6. Nominated students should submit a recording comprising a performance–with or without accompaniment–of any solo(s) or etude(s) of the student’s choice that they think reflects current ability level. This could include either a portion of a recording from a recent recital or an audition recording made expressly for the purpose of this audition. Audition recordings should be uploaded in mp3 format, be at least 3 minutes in duration, and should not exceed 10 minutes of total music; excerpts of longer pieces are acceptable. 

Directors can nominate students HERE. 

The form requires that you rate each nominee on various areas of their musical ability using a 1-10 scale to assist with the selection process (each student must be entered separately).

Venezuelan-born Musician Luis Alberto Castro is a product of the renowned musical program El Sistema, and now stands out as a conductor, French horn player, educator, author of methods for brass, and composer. 

He was a member of the National Children's-Youth Orchestra and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (OSSBV), conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and the Venezuelan Brass Ensemble, conducted by Thomas Clamor. He has received horn classes with teachers belonging to renowned artistic institutions such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Canadian Brass Quintet, Spanish Brass Quintet, Empire Brass Quintet, Sibelius Academy, among others.

As an OSSBV Artist, Sr. Casto participated in 30 international tours to the following countries: Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Belgium, Colombia, Canada, United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Uruguay, Chile, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Greece, Abu Dhabi, Oman, China, South Korea, Japan, Russia, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Austria, the United Kingdom, Scotland, Portugal. In addition, he participated as a musician of the OSSBV, in at least 14 recordings (CD, DVD) with the prestigious music labels Deutsche Grammophon, EMI and Euroarts, highlighting the recordings of Beethoven's Symphonies 3, 5 and 7, Symphonies 5, 7 and 8 by Gustav Mahler, Symphonies 5 and 6 by Peter Tchaikovsky, and The Rite of Spring.

Sr. Castro has studied closely with outstanding maestros, such as Gustavo Dudamel, José Antonio Abreu (+), Claudio Abbado (+), Sir. Simon Rattle, Daniel Baremboin, and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

As a member of the OSSBV, he participated in internationally renowned music festivals, such as the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Beethoven Festival in Bonn and the BBC PROMS in London, Latin Grammy Awards 2011, performing in venues such as the Berlin, Colonia, Munich and Paris Philharmonie, The “Carnegie Hall”, the “Alla Scala” Theater in Milan, the “Royal Albert Hall” and South Bank Center in London, La Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Civic Center in Chicago, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Salzburg Grosses Festspielhaus, the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, the Wiener Konzerthaus, the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the National Music Auditorium in Madrid, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Royal Opera House in Muscat, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and the Sala São Paulo in Brazil.

As a composer, he has written two concertos for horn and orchestra, as well as numerous pieces for horn ensemble. His compositions and arrangements have been performed on important occasions such as the National Youth Sports Games of Venezuela in 2005 and 2007, as well as on important television programs such as "Horn Hangouts" by Sarah Willis, for Deutsche Welle in 2016.

He has created his own method for the study of the French horn, which was published in 2019 by the spanish music publisher PILES, being available in Europe and Latin America and recently completed the creation of his own pedagogy for the improvement of Brass Wind performers, which consists of 110 training books, inspired by the repertoire of composers Peter Tchaikovsky, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss.

In his devotion to teaching, during the last 20 years, he has given master classes in different Latin American countries, with the support of El Sistema, also at the University of Gothenburg, the Brass Academy Alicante in Spain, the University of Massachusetts, and in different conservatories, academies and musical projects in Ecuador.

He was Associate Musical Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador in 2015. From 2018 to October 2022 he was musical director of the Quito Metropolitan Symphony Band, of the Sucre National Theater, and was recently elected as musical director of Casa de la Música Hall, in Quito.