Gilbert Castellanos, is a nationally renowned San Diego-based musician, composer, curator, educator and arranger, and one of the country’s top-call jazz trumpeters. For over a decade, Castellanos has been a member of The Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, performing around the world and recording with the acclaimed big band. He is a San Diego Music Awards six-time Best Jazz Artist and Artist of The Year, and most recently became SDMA’s first ever Jazz Artist to win Album of the Year for his 2022 release Espérame en el Cielo, which also spent the first several months of it’s release on the top 50 Jazz Charts.

Gilbert is celebrated for establishing San Diego as a national Jazz destination through his jazz-centric partnerships with The San Diego Symphony (Jazz @ The Jacobs/Bayside Summer Nights Jazz), The San Diego Museum of Art (Portraits In Jazz/The Wednesday Jazz Jam & Young Lions Series @ Panama 66), and The San Diego Ballet (Resident Composer). He founded The Young Lions Jazz Conservatory in 2016 and continues to explore new opportunities to fulfill his personal mission – keep jazz alive.