Having received his training and doctorate in prestigious conservatories and music schools in Brussels, London, New York and Melbourne, Dr Robert Casteels is qualified to teach in all areas of music up to and including the postgraduate level.  

After graduation from Juilliard and while beginning his career as a conductor in Europe, Casteels took an active role in teaching. He was appointed Head of symphonic, opera and chamber music at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussels in Belgium, where he was responsible for all orchestral, operatic and chamber music activities for 500 full-time music students.

In 1995, Casteels moved to Singapore when he accepted the late Brother Joseph McNally’s (then President of LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts) invitation to head the school’s music department.  Four years later, Casteels was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Performing Arts, overseeing LASALLE’s schools of dance, drama and music.

Dr Casteels has also taught and conducted orchestras, choirs and ensembles in the following institutions: NUS Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and Centre For the Arts, Anglo-Chinese International School (independent), Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore and the Faculty of Music of the University of Melbourne, Australia (both institutions where he was also External Examiner), Emaar International School, Singapore and St Joseph’s Institution International, Singapore.

Dr Casteels has been invited to conduct masterclasses in the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon, France, the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane, Australia and the Shanghai Music Conservatory, among others. In Singapore, Dr Casteels has given masterclasses at the National Institute of Education, Anglo-Chinese Junior College, Saint Andrew’s Junior College and Raffles Junior College, amongst others. In addition, Dr Casteels has served on government-appointed arts committees, and has contributed to various initiatives including a review of the GCE ‘A’-level music syllabus as well as the syllabi of the Music Elective Programme in junior colleges to include non-European music.

Dr Casteels continues to teach the following areas on a private basis: conducting, composition, music analysis, piano and chamber music. As a much sought after chamber music pianist and vocal accompanist, Casteels has worked with many instrumentalists and singers. 

“Teaching is touching a life for life.
By sharing knowledge and creating powerful associations, I strive to equip my students with the desire to learn and to appreciate the process of learning. As transferred knowledge sooner or later becomes outdated, I teach my students how to ask questions, think independently and become lifelong learners.

Teaching is being touched by life for life.
The world changes constantly. Young people are the most active initiators of change. Teaching forces me out of my comfort zone to learn from the younger generation. ‘Contemporary Music’, meaning music  ‘of the present’, has always been the most interesting musical genre for me, because it is the most relevant.  I am the product of top 20^th century music conservatories of the Old and New Worlds. Yet, how can we live as 21st century individuals if we only show interest in music of the past? How can we open up as 21^st century citizens if we only care for music of one part of the world? The teaching and practice of music must include the music of our times.”  
- Dr Robert Casteels