After receiving a solid musical education in the United States, France, and Germany, studying with renowned musicians such as Alfred Cortot and Edwin Fischer, Castellanos settled in Mexico.
He performed concerts throughout the country and taught at educational institutions such as the National Conservatory of Music and UNAM, shaping a new generation of prominent pianists.
[1] He was born in Los Angeles, California in 1917 while his family, originally from Mérida, Yucatán, were exiled due to the Mexican Revolution, a social uprising that threatened the traditional, landowning upper classes.
José María Pino Suárez, his uncle, served as vice-president of Mexico and was a key figure of the Mexican Revolution before being assassinated in February 1913 during the Ten Tragic Days.
Shortly after these events, fearing persecution from the Huerta military dictatorship, the Castellanos Cámara family exiled themselves in the United States and France.
[7] His cousin, Ismael Moreno Pino, was the undersecretary of foreign affairs and ambassador, posted in Berlin, The Hague, Washington, D.C., Geneva and New York City, among others.