“After two years of searching and a long delay due to the pandemic, the Ashland Symphony Orchestra music director/conductor search is nearing its end as the final five candidates audition,” writes Tierra Thomas in Monday’s (10/25) Ashland Source (Mansfield, OH). “Darwin Aquino was the first candidate … on Sept. 18. Aquino, a resident of St. Louis, Missouri, is the music director of the Gateway Festival Orchestra [in St. Louis]. Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, he … became the concertmaster of the Latino Youth Orchestra in the Dominican Republic where he then ended up becoming the conductor at the age of 16. … For his [Ashland Symphony] concert, he composed a piece inspired by COVID-19, titling it ‘Lunga Pandemia.’… In his concert, he included [the Overture to Beethoven’s Fidelio, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, and De Falla’s El Amor Brujo].… The search officially began in fall 2019…. The final five candidates were chosen in March 2020… After each performance, the candidate will be evaluated by the audience, the orchestra and the search committee…. Four candidates [Yaniv Segal, Michael Repper, Raphael Jiménez, Isaac Selya] still have performances this year…. The new conductor will be announced in June 2022.”
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