“Chamber Project St. Louis’ next program is themed ‘Rediscovery,’ though most local listeners will be making their first discovery of work by this diverse, under-programmed group of composers performed live,” writes Chris King in Wednesday’s (11/8) St. Louis American. “On the program: Clarinet Quintet by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), whose mother was English and father of African-American heritage; Nonet in Eb major by Louise Farrenc (1804-1875), a French woman composer propelled to fame by this work who fell back into obscurity after her death; and the world premiere of ‘Redescubrimiento: A Dominican in St. Louis’ by Darwin Aquino…. Dana Hotle, a clarinetist who cofounded Chamber Project St. Louis and serves as its executive director, said [that the ‘Rediscovery’ program] ‘highlights music by two composers who were perhaps a little overlooked because of race or gender…. To build on that, we commissioned a new piece by Darwin Aquino … inspired by his experience of moving to St. Louis from the Dominican Republic and how it’s been for him to live in St. Louis.’ … Aquino [is music director of] Winter Opera St. Louis … director of orchestral studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and current conductor-in-residence for the Washington University Symphony Orchestra.”
Posted November 9, 2018
