Our Teachers

Hails from Penang, Malaysia, Caster was appointed Principal Trumpet with Dream Orchestra of Los

Angeles since 2015. While in universities in the United States, he was one of the finalists in the Maia

Quartet competition and was awarded outstanding Pi Kappa Lambda award. Caster has been performing

with many professional ensembles, including the Malaysian Philharmonic, Brazilian Symphony,

Baltimore symphony, Kumamoto International Orchestra, Qatar philharmonic, Quad City Symphony,

Cedar Rapids Opera, National Symphony of Malaysia etc. under numerous conductors and artists, such

as Kees Bakel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Marin Alsop, Kurt Mazur, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Carl St. Clair and

many more. During the summers, he has performed in many countries, including Brazil, Italy, Japan,

China Korea, Belgium, Taiwan, Australia, Thailand, Canada, etc. A doctorate graduate from the

University of Southern California (USC) Thornton School of Music, Caster was inducted as a member of

the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society in 2007 and 2013. While at school, he was also a Fulbright scholarship

student and has been awarded 2013 outstanding Brass Chamber Music award. For the past summers,

Caster has been performing in many world-class music festivals, including the International Winter

Music Festival in Brazil, Alba music festival in Italy, Domaine Forget Academy in Canada etc. In 2014, he

was invited to perform Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 with West Coast Chamber Orchestra. His

primary teachers include Andrew Balio, Boyde Hood, David Greenhoe, Stephane Beaulac, John Bourque

and William Theis. Aside from being an orchestra musician, Caster has been served as conductor at

Youth Orchestra LA at LAPhil and also brass Instructor at California Summer School for the Arts. Besides

this, Caster also served as recording artists in Hollywood studios, where he had recorded multiple

commercials, movies soundtracks throughout the years. Moreover, Caster has also appeared in many TV

channels, including Channel 18, doing interviews and performances. Caster is a much sought after

teacher of trumpet and other brass instruments. His students have won numerous music awards,

admitted to credited universities, such as San Francisco Conservatory, Michigan University, Rice

University, Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, Oberlin College, Manhattan School of Music,

national trumpet competition, International Trumpet Guild competition, etc.