mC
This page was last updated: November 26, 2008
History tells us that ‘O Sole Mio was actually written by the Neapolitan composer E. Di Capua while traveling in the Ukraine. CASTALDO has taken this concept to the next level and brought together a talented group of international musicians to perform the music of La Dolce Vita 'NAmerica & Villa… spanning the globe from Spain, Argentina, Canada, Italy, Poland, Norway and the USA.
Crooner/Composer/Connoisseur - Award-winning songwriter/producer & recording artist michéal CASTALDO is an Italian-born Canadian native and New York City resident who believes, “Life is not a cup to be drained, but a measure to be filled.” He began filling his cup at an early age by studying voice with Maestro Pisapia, a protégé of the great Italian Operatic Tenor - Enrico Caruso.
So far, CASTALDO’s cup of life has overflowed several lifetimes, as a Producer/Remixer (Jose Feliciano, Teo Macero, Martha Wash, Wendy Moten), Recording Artist (Lives of a Cell, micheal CASTALDO), Songwriter (Jose Feliciano, Aaron Schroeder, Jim Papoulis), session musician (Herbal Essence Shampoo, E-File, Burlington Coat Factory), record label founder (MJM Records) and Label Executive (Vital Records).
A graduate of the world renowned Berklee College of Music, on any given week, michéal CASTALDO may be found performing light Italian opera, Neapolitan songs, and pop standards on stages as diverse as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Manhattan Center, Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center and the JVC Jazz Festival, in countries as diverse as Japan, Poland, Norway, England, Taiwan and Italy; sharing the stage or trading songs in concerts/songwriter circles with his contemporaries, including Mino Reitano, Renato Rascel, Wendy O Williams and Roberta Flack; singing the National Anthem with the Ann Ruckert Celebrity Choir before a sold out baseball game at Shea Stadium; and even conducting Brian Muni and the Ellis Island Family Choir for Japan TV direct via satellite from Ellis Island, NY.
Quite the entrepreneur, while maintaining a busy professional career in music, micheal also managed the mind boggling process of renovating his family's Villa in Southern Italy and how his Calabrian heritage has influenced a new concept of starting an olive oil cooperative and olive oil tasting workshop project called the New York City Olive Oil Coop.
In May 2007 micheal launched his private foundation La Dolce Vita Foundation where he drives his classic roadster, taking underprivileged children, teens and adults who suffer from the blues, on scenic 'Joy Rides'.
Throughout his early years, CASTALDO explored diverse musical directions and instrumentation’s. The past several years were spent exploring World Music with his band Lives of a Cell - charting on the College and Adult Contemporary radio stations in the US & Canada. With Villa and his new CD La Dolce Vita 'NAmerica – CASTALDO slows the tempo down, reaches deeper into the soul and passionately takes you back to his roots.
"The soft but powerful sound of michéal CASTALDO’s voice backed by a fresh international pop sound… hits you with intensity, filling you with a melancholic joy that makes you want to cry. His overwhelmingly penetrating emotions, dreamy romance and voice, aims straight for your heart" - - Jimmy Norman - The Coasters
Performed & Produced by michéal CASTALDO - Executive Producer Frank Pizzimenti
Copyright 2004 2008 - All Rights Reserved - Majestic Castle Music - Vital Records Inc.
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