Season 2024-25
Conductor
- Artistic & Music Director, St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra
- Guest Conductor, Opera Southwest (L. Boccherinni “Clementina”)
- Conductor, New Works Collective Opera Theater of St. Louis
- Conducting Debut, National Symphony Orchestra of Panama
- Guest Conductor, Interlochen Center for the Arts
- Conductor-in-Residence, Washington University
- Guest Conductor, World Chess Hall of Fame Music Series
Composer
- Commissioned Composer, Lux Nova Duo – “Dialogues V” Festival – Hamburg & Berlin, Germany (“Vom Imaginatio Folkloricus 3.5″ for Guitar, Piano Accordion & Chamber Ensemble)
- Commissioned Composer, Arizona State University Clarinet Studio (“Responsabilidad” for Bass Clarinet)
- Commissioned Composer, Laurel Zucker & Christine Gangelhoff (“Dos Danzas” for Flutes)
- Guest Composer, Latin American Music Festival, Venezuela (“Responsabilidad” for Bass Clarinet)
- Guest Composer, New Music Miami Festival (“En el Mejor Momento de mi Vida” for Solo Violoncello)
- Guest Composer, Caribbean Composers Forum, Online (“Aee Mama Si Ee” for Solo Percussion)
- Guest Composer, Ritmos y Raíces: Celebrating Latin American Music (“Perfume” for Mezzosoprano and Piano)
About Darwin
Known for his charismatic energy and musical versatility, Dominican conductor and composer Darwin Aquino has built a fast-rising career across the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Recognized for his smart and stylish conducting, Darwin regularly leads critically acclaimed performances of symphonic music, opera, operetta, ballet, new music, choral works, and Latin American music, worldwide….
Upcoming Schedule 2024/2025
2024
- World Premiere “Responsabilidad: A Paraphrased Merengue” for Bass Clarinet at Arizona State University / Commissioned Composer
April 21 - St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra / Artistic & Music Director
April 24-26 - Opera Theater of Saint Louis Festival Season / Cover Conductor
April 28 – June 29 - Interlochen Center for the Arts / Guest Conductor Interlochen Philharmonic Orchestra
June 29 – July 14 - National Symphony Orchestra of Panama / Guest Conductor
July 16 – 26 - St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra / Artistic & Music Director
July 31 – August 2 - World Premiere “Dos Danzas” for 2 Flutes at the National Flute Convention, San Antonio, Texas / Commissioned Composer
August 1-4 - Opera Theater of Saint Louis New Works Collective / Conductor
Sept. 9-11 - (Re)Discovering Julia Perry / Chamber Project St. Louis
Sept. 26 – 28 - St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra / Artistic & Music Director
Oct. 2 – 4 - Guest Composer – Ritmos y Raíces: Celebrating Latin American Music / “Perfume” for mezzosoprano and piano
Oct 13 – Rider University, New Jersey, USA - World Premiere – Festival “Dialogues V”, Hamburg, Germany. “Vom Imaginatio Folkloricus 3.5” commissioned by the Lux Nova Duo
Oct 17 – Instituto Cervantes - Latin American Premiere – Festival Latinoamericano de Musica, Caracas, Venezuela. “Responsabilidad: A Paraphrased Merengue” for Bass Clarinet solo
Oct 24 – Centro de Acción Social por la Música - Washington University Symphony Orchestra / Conductor-in-Residence
Nov. 3 - World Premiere – Festival “Dialogues V”, Hamburg, Germany. “Vom Imaginatio Folkloricus 3.5” commissioned by the Lux Nova Duo
Nov 9 – Resonanzraum - World Premiere – Festival “Dialogues V”, Hamburg, Germany. “Vom Imaginatio Folkloricus 3.5” commissioned by the Lux Nova Duo
Nov 13 – Philharmonie Berlin - St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra / Artistic & Music Director
Nov. 13-15 - Opera Theater of Saint Louis New Works Collective / Conductor
November 18-21 - St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra / Artistic & Music Director
Dec. 4-6
2025
- Opera Theater of Saint Louis New Works Collective / Conductor
January 25 – Feb. 8 -
New Music Miami Festival / Guest Composer“En el Mejor Momento de Mi Vida” for solo celloFebruary 5 – Jewish Museum of Florida
- St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra / Artistic & Music Director
Feb. 19-21 - Washington University Symphony Orchestra / Conductor-in-Residence
Feb. 23 - Opera Southwest / L. Boccherinni “Clementina”
March 17 – April 13 - Washington University Symphony Orchestra / Conductor-in-Residence
April 22 - St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra / Artistic & Music Director
April 22-25
Reviews
Gallery
Media
Unity premieres at the National Flute Association
Sonic explorations: a survey of caribbean flute repertoire
Darwin talks about Holst’s The Planets
Recent radio interview for Classic 107.3 Radio Arts Foundation
Joining the UIA Talent Agency for worldwide representation
UIA Talent Agency is an entertainment enterprise with a reputation of excellence in representing a diverse roster of artists. […] UIA is the home to a broad spectrum of talent including classical singers for opera and concert, actors for stage and screen, directors, composers, librettists, playwrights, and conductors…
Opera is for All
Inaugurated as part of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ 2023 season, the New Works Collective is the company’s groundbreaking effort to bring new voices into the world of opera, as well as to connect new audience members with the art form by exploring characters and stories that embody the full spectrum of modern life. A completely fresh approach to commissioning new operas, this first-of-its-kind program upends the form’s traditional model in favor of empowering composers and librettists who may feel that they do not have a place in opera and giving members of the community the chance to see themselves in the stories being performed. It’s an approach that New Works Collective conductor Darwin Aquino feels is vital for keeping opera resonant in today’s society.
Sound Moves: Where Music Meets Chess
Celebrate the closing of the WCHOF's exhibition, Sound Moves: Where Music Meets Chess, with a unique performance using a custom-made chessboard piano at Saint Louis University's Sinquefield State Room on January 18, 2024, accompanied by musicians from the St. Louis...
Darwin conducts the 2024 New Works Collective at OTSL
Last winter, more than 130 artists applied to create new operas with OTSL. Ultimately, just three multi-genre teams were selected by a panel of St. Louis artists, advocates, and community leaders. Now, those three teams are about to prove just how innovative, inclusive, and fun opera can be…
Seduction, Deception, Madness!: Conducting Giselle
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.
Catch Darwin on Classic 107.3 FM
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!