Arts & Pride Month conversation series: Taylor DeCastro
Originally published on The JOLT News on June 10, 2026
As Assistant Principal Violin 2 for the Olympia Symphony Orchestra (OSO), Taylor DeCastro shines on stage as her bright personality and incredible talent sparkle in every performance she gives.
“I remember asking my parents for violin lessons when I was young,” DeCastro shared. “I would try to make my own violin by putting my toy ukulele on my shoulder and grabbing something like a chopstick to use as a bow. Once I started playing in sixth grade, it was pretty much nonstop from there — I loved it immediately!”
DeCastro prioritized music in her K-12 education and beyond, and is currently finishing her masters degree in Violin Performance at University of Washington (UW).
Wasting no time at all, DeCastro has already been able to create a full-time career for herself in violin performance even though she is still a student! Enjoy our conversation.
The conversation
Benton: I would love to hear about music’s role as someone who is part of the LGBTQ+ community.
DeCastro: "Music has always been a big part of my identity, not only as a queer musician, but in other parts of my identity as well. I am a woman, and also a woman of color. Adding all those things together reminds me of how we all have such intersectional identities, and music has always been really central to that both as a listener and performer.
"Music has always been there to validate my experiences and always felt like a safe space for me to feel and process various life events. In many ways, music has given me a lot of courage and strength during challenging times because I am able to relate to and understand the struggles of others, which is really important.
"Music is all about connection for me, and being able to experience connections between different people so frequently is such a privilege that I do not take for granted."
Benton: Who are some people you have looked up to in your music and queer journey?
DeCastro: "I do look up to a lot of my friends from undergrad and grad school, teachers I’ve had, including my professor at UW Rachel Lee Priday, as well as musicians from OSO, including Concertmaster Karin Choo and Music Director Alexandra Arrieche."
Benton: Have you ever encountered discrimination in the professional music world?
DeCastro: "I have experienced a bit of discrimination in the classical music world, but at the same time the majority of my experiences have been very welcoming and inclusive.
"Speaking on (the) discrimination side, classical music as much as it is an art form is still unfortunately an institution of its own within our greater society. Historically, it’s been an institution that prioritized the voices of those (people) who have the most power in these structures (usually white, hetrosexual, male, upper class, or any combination of those).
"People in power are not inherently evil — I have met a lot of great, wonderful people that fit those above descriptors, but it does mean that within the classical music industry, there is a really long history of injustice towards anyone who does not fit that mold. It is something that our industry really needs to reevaluate and repair.
"Without going into too much detail, I have been in a bunch of situations where I’ve felt uncomfortable with things that were said and done by people in power, whether that was in school or the professional music world. These experiences are really difficult things to navigate, but by no means are these experiences individual to me at all.
"Like I said earlier though, the vast majority are super positive and truly embrace diversity, and OSO is a great example of that. I’ve always felt included from the very first job interview.
"OSO does completely blind auditions where musicians are behind a screen and no one from the panel can see who you are. I think it is a really great way to remove any bias that people might have when watching someone play. "
Benton: Is there anything else you would like to share with myself or JOLT readers?
DeCastro: "One good general piece of advice would be just because you do not understand someone else’s identity does not mean that you have to attack that individual or their community.
"I will say, there have been a lot of famous classical music composers throughout history who were either open or closeted about their queer identities, including John Cage, Aaron Copeland, Samuel Barber, Dame Ethel Smyth, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and George Frideric Handel (click here to read a longer list).
"I think that all of these composers are a great testament to the fact that we’re all human at the end of the day, and are all capable of creating beautiful art.”
https://thejoltnews.com/stories/hold-arts-pride-month-conversation-series-taylor-decastro,29422