Conductor | Composer

Darwin Aquino

Darwin Aquino - Fall Season 2023

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
  • Guest Conductor, World Chess Hall of Fame Music Series

Composer

  • Commissioned Composer, Lux Nova Duo in Hamburg, Germany (New Work)
  • Guest Composer, San Francisco Civic Symphony (“Lunga Pandemia” for orchestra)
  • Commissioned Composer, Arizona State University Clarinet Studio (New Work)
  • 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)
Darwin Aquino - Fall Season 2023

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 has earned a solid reputation for his energy and passion, and this concert highlighted his skills brilliantly. Additionally, Aquino has done yeoman’s work to highlight the contributions of Latin American composers, to the delight of the St. Louis community and beyond." Symphony Review: The Saint Louis Philharmonic delivers power and pathos on opening night

 – Gary Liam Scott (KDHX)

“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

Seduction, Deception, Madness!: Conducting Giselle

Seduction, Deception, Madness!: Conducting Giselle

Oct 7, 2023 |

Chamber Music Society of Saint Louis, under the baton of Darwin Aquino, will accompany the dancers with the score composed by Adolphe Adam. The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch in 2019 called their playing “instrumental brilliance”. Many are members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

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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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