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”.

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. 

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.