Esteban Castro

Esteban Castro is a Brooklyn-based pianist who started playing piano at age 3, and quickly started improvising and composing. Esteban furthered their studies in both jazz and classical music privately with teachers including Fred Hersch and Phillip Kawin, and by participating in many high school programs such as the Manhattan School of Music Precollege and Jazz House Kids. In 2020, Esteban started studies at the Juilliard School on a full tuition scholarship, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music in 2024.

Since moving to New York, Esteban has performed nationally and internationally as a leader, and as a side musician for bands led by artists such as Ambrose Akinmusire, Billy Drummond, Francesco Cafiso, Peter Evans, Joe Farnsworth, Giveton Gelin, Russell Hall, Harish Raghavan, and Ben Solomon, among others. In 2016, Esteban was the youngest-ever first prize winner of the Montreux Jazz Piano Solo Competition. Later, they were selected as a finalist for the 2023 American Piano Awards, and is a winner of the 2025 Gilmore Festival Bell Young Jazz Award.