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.

Learn more about the members of the New Works Collective:

Darwin Aquino

Conductor/Composer

Known for his charismatic energy, strong artistic convictions, and musical versatility, Dominican American composer and conductor Darwin Aquino is making an impact leading acclaimed performances of new works, symphonic music, opera, and ballet; and creating music that blends folkloric and contemporary influences. His works continue to earn recognition for their rhythmic vitality and cultural resonance. 

Aquino currently serves as Head of Music at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Conductor-in-Residence with the Washington University Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the Musica Sacra concert series in the Dominican Republic. Other highlights include recent debuts with Opera Southwest in New Mexico and the National Symphony Orchestra of Panama, as well as guest appearances with the Florida Grand Opera, St. Louis Ballet, the Caribbean Lyric Festival, and the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He has also held conducting positions with the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra, Gateway Festival Orchestra, Winter Opera St. Louis, Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra, Opera Naples, University of Missouri St. Louis, among others. 

As a composer, Aquino’s music has been performed internationally by ensembles such as the Orquesta Phiharmonique Radio France, the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz and thein Germany. Recent world premieres include the Dialogues V Festival at Berlin’s Philharmonie, Hamburg, Madrid, and Düsseldorf; New Music Miami ISCM Festival, Festival Latinoamericano de Música, Chamber Project St. Louis, and the Juilliard School. 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”.

Tiélere Cheatem

Performer

Tiélere Cheatem (They/Them, b. 1990) is a bold, multifaceted artist whose work is rich with Romantic melancholy, queer sensuality, and a distinctively modern edge. Ethereal yet grounded, their artistry bridges the stage and the gallery, captivating audiences across the United States, Canada, and the UK. A native of St. Louis, Cheatem’s visual and performance work has earned numerous accolades, including two Ann Metzger Biennial Awards from the St. Louis Artists’ Guild, Best in Show from the Metro Trans Umbrella Group (MTUG) Art Show, and recognition as one of STL Bucket List’s Top 5 Artists of 2021. As a triple threat performer, Cheatem has brought powerful, award-winning performances to the stage in productions such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hippolyta, Helena, Peter Quince) with the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Kinky Boots (Lola/Simon) with Tesseract Theatre, La Cage aux Folles (Jacob) with New Line Theatre, and The Light in the Piazza (Fabrizio Nacarelli) with R-S Theatrics. To see more of their work, follow @tcheatemstudios on Instagram.

Lauren Eldridge Stewart

Musicologist

Dr. Lauren Eldridge Stewart’s research focuses on ethnographic analyses of contemporary classical music cultures. As an assistant professor of ethnomusicologist in the Department of Music at Washington University in St. Louis, she teaches courses on music traditions around the globe, jazz, and musical activism. Her research interests include classical music cultures, sampling in gospel and hip hop, and interpolation across music of the African diaspora. Her forthcoming first book, Recital: the Uses of Classical Music in Haiti introduces a network of summer music camps in Haiti that demonstrate both the aesthetic and functional value of classical music. Her next book examines the community and educational outreach programs of US orchestras and the efficacy of their claims toward social justice. She has been published in Music and Politics, Women & Music, and Twentieth-Century Music, and has presented at national and international conferences, including the Society for Ethnomusicology, British Forum for Ethnomusicology, Haitian Studies Association, and the American Anthropological Association.

Lauren cohosts the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra broadcasts on St. Louis Public Radio. She also serves as an Advisory Board member for the UNCF/Mellon Programs, and is currently seated as a member of the American Musicological Society Council and the Editorial Board for the Journal of the Society for American Music. Her work has been extensively supported by the Mellon Foundation and the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, as well as by the Center for the Humanities and the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Equity at Washington University.

Caroline Fan

Activist/Political Consultant

Caroline Fan is a social entrepreneur who has worked in leadership positions in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Caroline currently serves as CSO to Lux and Nyx, a luxury handbag line for the modern professional woman. She specializes in public affairs, fundraising, and community outreach. Caroline works with clients to promote their brands and guides them through complex and rapidly changing regulations, policies, and political challenges in the public and private sectors. She has also led a number of successful crowdfunding campaigns and won a few hackathons.

Caroline is a prolific writer and founded an award-winning blog that received accolades from the Library of Congress.  She has also been honored by the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum as one of 15 APA Women Leaders. She graduated from Williams College and received an M.P.A from Baruch College through the National Urban Fellows program. 

Adam Flores

Theater Maker/Community Assembler

Adam Flores teaches, facilitates, and makes art at multiple universities while working as a freelance theater maker and community assembler, building local spaces where underrepresented voices can flourish. He’s particularly proud that he’s often been called for projects that center people of color—moments when his expertise is wanted and warranted because he identifies with his Latino heritage and culture.

At Opera Theatre St. Louis Flores has taught many camps, and workshops. Along with his partner Courtney Bailey, Flores created the last Trailblazers of Opera educational program. He was the Assistant Director for the 2025 New Works Collective world premieres, helping bring those stories to the stage. In 2026, he was the director for the OTSL/COCA collaboration of Joshua’s Boots. As a local theatre actor and director he has worked with dozens of companies including Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, the Repertory Theatre, Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble, ERA, and Tesseract, to name a few.

At the heart of everything Adam does is a simple belief: everyone has a story worth hearing, and all of those stories could use more love in the telling.

Dr. Grace Lee

Educator

Dr. Grace Lee is a retired public school educator who currently serves as the Dean of Faculty at Mary Institute St. Louis Country Day School (MICDS), an independent school in St. Louis, Missouri. She is also the director of the Equity and Justice Academy in Character Education (EJACE) for Character Plus. Previously, she served as a school social worker, ELA teacher, assistant principal and principal in the Jennings, Parkway, Webster Groves and University City School Districts. In every aspect of leadership, Dr. Lee brings her social work lens to her role as an educator and community volunteer. She works to create systems to ensure equity and access. The core of her beliefs centers on ensuring that we truly engage with each other as active, equal partners in upholding a community that fosters a sense of belonging, purpose and recognition of self-worth.

Dr. Lee also serves on several boards in the St. Louis region. She is serving her first term as a school board director for the Webster Groves School District. She also serves as a board member for Lifewise STL, Innovation Technology Education Fund (ITEF) and Conflict Resolution Center-STL. She also serves as a volunteer and coach for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society Student Visionary Program.

Jacqueline Thompson

Actor/Director

Jacqueline Thompson is a theater-maker who is passionate about creating art to promote social change. Thompson received a Master of Fine Arts in acting from the University of Louisville as well as a graduate certificate in African American Theatre in 2012. 

As an actor, she has performed with The Black Rep, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Mustard Seed, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Metro Theater, New Jewish Theatre, and Upstream Theatre, among others. As a director, she led Shakespeare Festival St. Louis’ Shakespeare in the Streets in 2015 and The Telling Project-St. Louis in 2016, which is a national performing arts non-profit that employs theater to deepen our understanding of the military and veterans’ experience. In 2015, she was the lead St. Louis producer for a national collaboration with Oregon Shakespeare Festival and The One Minute Play Festival for The Every 28 Hours play festival.    

Jacqueline completed the Regional Arts Commission’s Community Arts Training (CAT) Program to help facilitate the intersection between community engagement and the arts.  In 2018, she won the St. Louis Theater Circle Award for outstanding actress in a drama.  She was selected by the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) to participate in the Rising Leaders of Color program and received a Visionary Award recognizing women who have impacted the arts in St. Louis.  

Dr. Philip Woodmore

National Composer/Musical Educator

St. Louis native Dr. Philip A. Woodmore has been an active member of the local music community for many years. Phil received a bachelor’s degree in business marketing and vocal performance from Saint Louis University, a master’s degree in music education from Webster University, and his PhD in music education from the University of Missouri–Columbia.

His research interests include the changing voice, voice pedagogy, and the transformative power of music. Phil has taught at Ferguson and Berkeley Middle Schools, Crestview Middle School, and the Center of Creative Arts (COCA), and served as director of the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department Choir, and the Northern Arizona University Gospel Choir. He is currently the Artistic Director of Camps and Voice at COCA and the Worship and Arts Director at New Sunny Mount Missionary Baptist Church.

Phil composed the original score for Antigone in Ferguson, which has traveled the country for the past five years, including a national university tour, an Off-Broadway premiere, and an international premiere in Athens, Greece. Following the success of Antigone in Ferguson, Phil wrote an original score for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last sermon, The Drum Major Instinct, and served as the artistic director for the Fall 2021 Requiem of Light, an event that marked the loss of life during the pandemic for St. Louisans. Most recently, his original musical Team M The Musical, written and composed by Phil and centered on mental health struggles in today’s society, premiered at COCA on May 15 and 16, 2026.