Conductor | Composer

Darwin Aquino

3

Season 2023-24

Conductor

  • Conductor, New Works Collective Opera Theater of St. Louis
  • Guest Conductor, Interlochen Center for the Arts
  • Music Director, St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra
  • Guest Conductor, St. Louis Ballet (Giselle)
  • Conductor-in-Residence, Washington University
  • Music Director, Gateway Festival Orchestra
  • Guest Conductor, Chamber Music Society

Composer

  • Guest Composer, San Francisco Civic Symphony (“Lunga Pandemia” for orchestra)
  • Commissioned Composer, Opera Theater of St. Louis / Opera on the Go (“Treemonisha” S. Joplin / Abridged)
  • Guest Composer, Latin American Music Festival / Venezuela (“Aee Mamá Si Ee” for solo percussion)
  • Commissioned Composer, University of Michigan / Percussion studio (“Aee Mamá Si Ee” for solo percussion)

About Darwin

Known for his charismatic energy and musical versatility as a conductor and composer, Darwin Aquino’s career has taken him to orchestra halls and opera theaters across Europe, United States and Latin America. His constant presence as a Dominican artist in multiples stages is seen as a bright light for diversity and inclusion in classical music…

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Reviews

“Darwin Aquino, a former FGO Assistant Conductor, led a lively, fast-paced reading of Cimarosa’s elegant work. Benedetta Orsi and Aquino’s Spanish libretto works remarkably well with Cimarosa’s bubbly score. Many Spanish-speaking members of the audience found the adaptation amusing and entertaining” - D. Cimarosa “Il Matrimonio Segreto

– Laurence Budmen, South Florida Classical Review

“Conductor Darwin Aquino had the orchestra sounding great from the first measures of the overture and generally maintained a good balance between stage and pit. He has a fine feel for the nuances of the bel canto style, and knows to breathe with the singers”.

– Sarah Bryan Miller, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz, Germany
“These extraordinary concerts had an enormous reception, which has risen the expectations to continuously program this international repertoire with the Mainz Philharmonic Orchestra”

– Mainzer Kultur

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Gallery

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Media

Catch Darwin on Classic 107.3 FM

Jul 14, 2023 |

Kathy Lawton Brown of Classic 107.3 interviewed Music Director Darwin Aquino and Guest Conductor Leon Burke III. Part 2 of the interview has Maestro Aquino describing the program to be performed Sunday, July 16 at 7:30pm at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. All concerts are free to attend!

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Interview: STLPHIL premieres Jocelyn Hagen’s music

Interview: STLPHIL premieres Jocelyn Hagen’s music

May 10, 2023 |

Darwin Aquino, the Music Director of the The Saint Louis Philharmonic and Leanne Magnusen Latuda, Artistic & Executive Director of the Saint Louis Women’s Chorale, spoke with Kathy Lawton Brown about their joint concert on April 28 that features music of Benjamin Britten, Maurice Ravel, and two St. Louis premieres: “Seis Sones Sencillos” by Carlos Fariñas and Antonio María Romeu and “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci” by Jocelyn Hagen…

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