Performance: Ashland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Darwin Aquino

Darwin Aquino’s piece for orchestra Lunga Pandemia, written in 2021, was inspired by life during COVID-19. It is divided into four sections, each representing a different aspect of the pandemic, weaved with Caribbean rhythms from Aquino’s native Dominican Republic.

About Lunga Pandemia:

“What a long pandemic this has been for all of us! In music, Lunga refers to what we know as fermatas which at times welcome those sudden pauses in music. This notion immediately captured my attention as a symbol of how our regular lives were stopped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Afterwards, I thought to myself how I could recreate the spread of a virus inside an orchestra. And so, the writing began.

Lunga Pandemia is divided in two larger sections where each one has two internal parts: First dose (I – The Air / II -Loneliness) and Second dose (III – A Masqued Ball / IV – Finale?). All the musical material is connected from the beginning to end.

The Air represents how the rapid spread of COVID came silently towards us. Starting as a quiet heartbeat that is embodied by the bass drum, it raises its speed as a menacing solo violin transforms the texture of the entire orchestra. This sonic journey takes us from a restful unison to massive dissonances. As the virus is now with us, the piece moves into Loneliness where a tubular bell noisily explodes letting us know that the air has been compromised. This is followed by a Caribbean nostalgic dance led by a tender English Horn solo. This solo is a reminiscent of how my family in the Dominican Republic has always been in my heart during this pandemic.

I remember how we all abruptly started to wear masks. Which brings us to A Masqued Ball – an ugly and poignant dance which I hope makes you feel uneasy. It evolves into a sarcastic waltz where we can hear some citations to one of my favorite works: C. Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre. Death is now all around us, but the English Horn solo comes back trying to convince us that all has passed, and we are safe.

Short and filled with an energetic outburst, the last section Finale? reminds us that the pandemic is still far from being over. All previous musical ideas and themes are now combined with Dominican folkloric rhythms that bring out new Latin colors which are further enhanced using exotic instruments like the African Drums and the Güira de Metal (Steel Guiro).”

– Darwin Aquino, August 18, 2021

About Darwin Aquino:

“Known for his charismatic energy, his strong artistic convictions, and musical versatility, Dominican composer, conductor, and violinist Darwin Aquino is making an impact worldwide leading acclaimed performances of new works, symphonic music, opera, ballet, and chamber music, with a particular focus on the Latin American and Caribbean repertoire.

In the Dominican Republic, he served for more than fifteen years as the Artistic & Music Director of El Sistema, the Director of the National Conservatory of Music, and the Composer-in-Residence and Violinist for the Dominican National Symphony Orchestra, where he inspired a new generation of musicians with his dynamic leadership and advocacy efforts. Darwin refers to his creative life in this way: ‘My music emerges from the heart of Caribbean rhythms and chants. We are a creative mixture of cultures – an explosion of sounds, colors, and imagination. It has always been my universe, my poetic vision of the world.’

He is currently in his fifth season as Artistic & Music Director of the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra, where he has worked extensively to amplify the recognition of the ensemble as one of the most noted performing arts organizations in the Midwest, and his eighth season as Conductor-in-Residence with the Washington University Symphony Orchestra. Recent engagements include conducting debuts with Opera Southwest (Boccherini’s Clementina / U.S. premiere), the National Symphony Orchestra of Panama, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO), and the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

As a composer, Darwin was commissioned by the Dialogues V Festival for the world premiere of his piece Vom Imaginatio Folkloricus 3.5, performed by the Lux Nova Duo and Sinfonietta Vivazza, at Berlin’s Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal, Hamburg’s Rezonanzraum, and Madrid’s Nuevo Teatro Alcalá. From the premiere of his orchestral piece Espacio Ritual with the Orchestre Philharmonique Radio France at La Maison in Paris, the Musique au Jour le Jour reviewed: “Aquino has very well listened to the French composers, Boulez or Varese, developing in this piece a deeply personal language and an inventive mastery for writing to the orchestra.”

Recently, Darwin was selected as the new Head of Music for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where he has also served as Conductor for the New Works Collective since its inception in 2023, leading its first nine world premieres to great success and earning a reputation as a champion of new music.

Recent seasons have seen Darwin as a guest conductor for the Philharmonishes Staatsorchester Mainz and the Saarländisches Staatsorchester in Germany, where he led special New Year’s Day concerts and sold-out performances of Latin American symphonic music, including his own orchestral works YOAminicana and Congofonía. Other recent notable engagements include the Florida Grand Opera (Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto with his own Spanish translation), Missouri Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Opera (Porgy and Bess), Ashland Symphony Orchestra (world premiere of his orchestral piece Lunga Pandemia), Saint Louis Ballet, Caribbean Lyric Festival, National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, Chicago Summer Opera, Filarmónica Boca del Rio in Mexico, Orchestra of the Americas, Chamber Project Saint Louis, Missouri Festival for the Arts, and the Chamber Music Society.

Darwin was the first Latin American conductor to be appointed Music Director for the Gateway Festival Orchestra (2019-2024), Winter Opera St. Louis (2016-2019), and Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Missouri-St.Louis (2017-2022). Of his performance of Norma with Winter Opera, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch remarked, ‘Conductor Darwin Aquino had the orchestra sounding great from the first measures of the overture and 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.’

As an advocate for music education, Darwin has worked with numerous universities’ orchestras, ensembles, and opera programs. Highlights include a full concert of new Latin American music with the Illinois Modern Ensemble at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; L’Etoile with Florida International University; The Medium, Chichester Psalms, and Leanna Kirchoff’s The Clever Artifice of Harriet and Margaret (National Opera Association winner) with UMSL, and performances of Carmina Burana, Haydn’s Te Deum, and Vaughan Williams’s Sea Symphony with the Washington University Symphony Orchestra and Choirs.

He has assisted conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Patrick Summers, George Manahan, Gemma New, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Gzregorz Nowak, Benjamin Zander, Daniela Candillari, Ramon Tebar, Rory McDonald, and many others. Darwin served as Assistant Conductor for the Orchestra of the Americas, Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra, and FIU Symphony Orchestra, as well as Cover Conductor for both the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the St. Louis Youth Symphony Orchestra. In opera, he has worked as Assistant Conductor for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Florida Grand Opera, and Opera Naples.”

– DarwinAquino.com