Afro-Latin Jazz with Dr. Paul De Castro – A Vegan Musical Maestro

We are fortunate in this show to be immersing in euphonious explorations with none other than Maestro Paul De Castro, a vegan musician and professor, arranger, composer, sought-after soloist, orchestral lead, and so much more!

“I tell my students, I think all my students know, I'm vegan, because it comes up one way or another. I always have vegan pamphlets and materials in my office. And if they look, and they asked what it is, I say, well, take one. I think part of being a professor, or a teacher of any type, is not only about teaching an instrument, or teaching how to do a task, but it's also about teaching what's important in life, how to lead a better life, and in my opinion is that a better life is a vegan lifestyle.”

“Well, since I was a child, I felt great affection towards them (animals). You know, if there was a cat, there was a dog, You know, and it took me a while to understand that a pig or a cow is not different than a dog or a cat. They are the same beings, they have the same feelings, they want to live. You know, that if I'm eating milk, the end-product is that the animal will suffer. So that's when I decided to become vegan.”

Maestro De Castro seeks to transcend borders through music, to “open doors” between cultures and nations with music as his instrument. “When the pandemic started, I was in the middle of recording a new project using the Chinese suona to play Cuban dance music. The working title for the group is very, very simple. It's called La Corneta China, ‘The Chinese Cornet.’”

Dr. De Castro has brought sounds of peace through the vibrant Afro-Latin music genre across continents, performing in China, Cuba, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, Australia, Canada, and the USA. In music as much as through his words, Dr. De Castro effects a beautiful fusion of hearts coming together in oneness and harmony.

“Of course, the immediate wish is that everyone would be vegan. I think that if we want to achieve peace, we cannot be violent towards other beings, directly or indirectly.”