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Maria Castro is a sound designer and composer currently based in France. She worked in London for several years, mainly on film and documentary, and has been involved in various projects related to the London Film School, Royal Holloway College, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, UK Film Council, Final Cut, Modem Media, Berlinale Talent Campus, Le Centre du Son and CinéArchives/Toiles d'Humanité.
In 2004 Maria was an official participant of the Berlinale Talent Campus during the 54th Berlin International Film Festival. She was also one of the three finalists selected by David Holmes for the VW Score Competition (for composers and sound designers) that took place during the Berlinale. That same year she received a commission from the British percussion quartet Ensemble Bash to compose the piece 'Film Noir' for a series of concerts that took place in England in the summer 2004.
Maria's string quartet in tribute to Jeff Buckley features in the documentary 'Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley' - winner of 'best use of music in film' award at the CMJ Filmfest New York 2004, best music documentary at the San Francisco World Film festival 2005, and best film and best documentary at the D.I.Y. Film Festival, Los Angeles 2006.
Maria studied composition in the UK with Peter Wiegold, Simon Holt, Brian Lock and Philipp Wachsmann, and in France with Arnaud Petit and Francis Dhomont. She also attended a composition course with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Germany in 1998. She attained a first-class honours degree in Music at Royal Holloway, University of London in 2000. In 2006 she was awarded a PhD by the University of London, specialising in composition and sound design for the moving image. David Toop was one of her PhD examiners.
Maria's work has been presented and screened at various venues and film festivals in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Portugal, Italy, United States and Canada.