As Head of Music of Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Darwin was part of the conducting team for the Center Stage Concert at the end of the 2026 Festival Season, on June 24th.
Conducting at the Center Stage Concert
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Conductor News
Member of the New Works Collective
Opera Theatre’s New Works Collective is a disruption of the traditional commissioning model: it gives decision-making power to the community through a collective of St. Louis residents.
Leading workshop of Tobias Picker’s new opera
Darwin was selected to conduct the second workshop of “Safe Haven”, a new opera by Tobias Picker and Aryeh Stollman. It is directed by our Opera Theater of Saint Louis’s artistic director Patricia Racette. It will premiere at OTSL during the 2027 Festival Season.
New Works Collective operas now free on-demand
Opera Theater of Saint Louis (OTSL) has launched a free on-demand streaming of all 2025 New Works Collective world premieres, presented in February 2025 and conducted by Darwin Aquino. Please register on OTSL's website to receive the link. The on-demand access will be...
Christmas in Harmony | A Dominican Lyric Night
Featuring Dominican Artists: Soprano Natalie Peña-Comas and Conductor Darwin Aquino | December 7th, 2025 at 3:30 pm
Darwin discusses Mahler Symphony 1 on radio
Darwin Aquino and Kathy Lawton Brown talk about launching a year-round celebration for the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra’s 165th anniversary with “It’s a Celebration” on October 17.
Opera Clementina, conducted by Darwin, finalist at 2025 International Opera Awards
Luigi Boccherini’s Dona Clementina, produced in April by Opera Southwest in Alburquerque, New Mexico, is a finalist for the 2025 International Opera Awards in the category of “Rediscovered Work”! The company presented the USA premiere of piece, sang in its original...
The “dazzling” and “spellbinding” This House has its world premiere at OTSL
Renowned composer Ricky Ian Gordon’s latest collaboration with Lynn Nottage opened last Saturday [May 31st.] at Opera Theater of Saint Louis. […] This time Lynn’s daughter, Ruby Aiyo Gerber, joined the ranks as co-librettist. […] (This House was also assistant conducted by OTSL’s Head of Music, Darwin Aquino.)
Appointed as new Head of Music at OTSL
Darwin was selected as Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’s new Head of Music for the 2025 Festival Season, working alongside world class artists in four operas and the Center Stage concert with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO)
Radio talk on Viva Rachmaninoff
St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director Darwin Aquino and pianist Brian Woods talk with Kathy Lawton Brown about “Viva Rachmaninoff” (Friday, April 25, 2025). This concert features Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, performed by Woods.
St. Louis Philarmonic Orchestra closes season with Rachmaninoff, other romantic composers
Conducting the philharmonic is artistic and musical director Darwin Aquino. Known for his work as a composer and champion of contemporary music, he currently serves as conductor for the New Works Collective with Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
Missouri Arts Council selects Darwin as Featured Artist
Since we founded our Missouri Featured Artists Program in 2020, we have highlighted more than 200 imaginative makers from throughout the state. We’ve brought you painters, pencil artists, sculptors, dancers, singers, instrumental musicians, poets, novelists, filmmakers, ceramicists, jewelry artists, glass artists, and many more who create in myriad other ways. You’ll find them all in the ever-growing gallery below our current highlighted quartet.