Rob Castell works as a songwriter & musician. He was the musical director, co-writer, arranger, performer and co-producer for Barbershopera Productions Ltd, a company which enjoyed success at the Edinburgh Festival, in London's West End, on tour in the UK and abroad, and with two radio play adaptations commissioned by BBC Radio 4.
Rob grew up in Berkshire, UK and studied for A-levels at Hurtwood House, a specialist performing arts college in the Surrey hills. He went on to study English Literature at the University of East Anglia, where he was President of the Drama Society and also where he won the Guardian Student Travel Writer of the Year Award 2005. Rob returned to UEA in 2007 to study for an MA in International Relations, which he completed successfully in September 2009.
As well as performing and writing with Barbershopera, Rob co-wrote songs and performed as Pablo the Matador for E4's Playing It Straight in early 2012. He worked as the songwriter for Officially Amazing, a new Lion TV programme commissioned by the BBC, the first series of which was nominated for a BAFTA. Rob played Pop in the 10th Anniversary World Arena Tour of We Will Rock You and his debut solo EP Stories of Ourselves was released in May 2012. He has in recent years worked throughout the UK as a musical theatre writer & musical director, including at the Nuffield Southampton, York Theatre Royal & Birmingham Rep. He now focuses mainly on songwriting for children - his debut cantata Katie Cox & the Rhythm of the River was performed by over 150 local children at the Cookham Festival 2019. He is the resident songwriter for a new children's youtube channel - Tiny Toons TV.
Rob lives in Berkshire with his wife Zoe, daughter Wren, dog Mina and cat Corelli.
