Reagan Casteel is a composer, pianist, and music director from Nashville, TN. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Reagan has many interests including bluegrass, musical theatre, and contemporary a cappella music in addition to her enthusiastic love of contemporary classical music.

AS A COMPOSER…

Reagan Casteel has been composing since the age of four, when her opera “Flutterby the Butterfly,” became a smash hit in her living room. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, Reagan began her formal composition study at Interlochen Arts Camp and later Interlochen Arts Academy with the mentorship of Dr. Rob Deemer and Dr. Cynthia Van Maanen. While at Eastman, she has studied with David Liptak, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. Her time at Eastman has allowed her to collaborate with many students and ensembles including the Eastman Wind Orchestra, the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, and the Eastman Chorale, as well as many individuals for whom she is immensely grateful. Outside of Rochester, her reach has expanded over the course of her collegiate career, including the publication of her marimba solo Raindrops by Row-Loff Percussion, which has since been added to the state Solo and Ensemble Lists in Missouri and Texas, and the publication of her choral work Women at the Watering Hole, Early August by August Press. In the fall of 2018 she was commissioned by Dr. Todd Waldecker and the MTSU Clarinet Choir to write a piece about The South entitled Cattywampus, which was premiered at the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest the following April. 

AS A PERFORMER…

Reagan studied classical piano with Elinor Freer at Eastman, and performs her own works often. In addition to her classical studies, she has a profound love of jazz and was Tennessee’s all-state jazz pianist for three years before moving to Interlochen, where she performed in three jazz ensembles. Reagan regularly accompanied multiple voice students at Eastman and loves the collaborative nature of these relationships. Reagan also has performed as a singer on numerous recording projects for MTI, Disney Theatrical, Tams-Whitmark, R&H, as well as many other clients since age 7. She considers singing an extremely important part of her musicianship and is grateful for her collegiate a cappella group, After Hours, for helping her continue performing as a vocalist.

AS A MUSIC DIRECTOR…

In addition to her love of classical music, Reagan adopted a love of musical theatre when she was a toddler, but her pursuit of music direction has been a much more recent endeavor. After playing Keyboard 1/2 in Interlochen’s 2016 production of RENT, she went on to serve as Assistant Music Director for ROC Players’ THE LAST FIVE YEARS and Music Director for ROC Players’ NEXT TO NORMAL and INTO THE WOODS at the University of Rochester. Reagan spent her summers in internship positions in New York City (iTheatrics and Broadway Artists’ Alliance), accompanying rehearsals, masterclasses, and coachings, and she had her professional music directing debut in 2018 with UR Todd Theatre’s fall production of GONE MISSING.

AS AN ARRANGER/ORCHESTRATOR…

Reagan began arranging in high school, starting with the most boring arrangement of Jackson 5’s ABC for Clarinet Choir you’ve ever heard. Since then, however her interest and skills have become much more developed, and Reagan has now completed dozens of arrangements, mostly for a cappella SATB choir. Reagan is fortunate to serve as Music Director and primary arranger for UR’s premier co-ed a cappella group, After Hours, and has them to thank for much of her arranging practice. Reagan has also done multiple chamber and orchestral arrangements and orchestrations for artists such as Deonté L. Warren, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Leslie Odom Jr..