Embassy Presents Dec. 7 Concert at St. John’s
By • December 4, 2025 0 401
Due to the overwhelming response, the event will be livestreamed on YouTube HERE, allowing wider audiences to enjoy this meaningful seasonal celebration.
Born in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, soprano Nathalie Peña-Comas, a graduate of the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, went on to appear in operas and win vocal awards throughout Europe and the Americas. She was also a 2017 Latin Grammy nominee for Best Classical Album.
A cultural ambassador for her home country since 2019, Peña-Comas will be the featured performer at “Christmas in Harmony: A Dominican Lyric Night,” taking place at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3240 O St. NW.
Admission to the candlelight concert, presented by the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in the U.S., is free with Eventbrite registration.
A festive cocktail reception hosted by the embassy will follow the concert.
“The ‘Christmas in Harmony’ concert was conceived as an opportunity to celebrate unity and joy during the holiday season while showcasing the diversity of Dominican musical talent,” said Ambassador Maria Isabel Castillo Báez. “We are well known for our merengue and bachata rhythms, but not so well recognized for our classical music talents.”
The ambassador continued: “It is also an opportunity to strengthen people-to-people ties between the Dominican Republic and the United States, especially between the Dominican community in Washington and friends of our country.”
Named for Saint Dominic, the Spanish-speaking nation occupies more than half of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it shares with its Creole- and French-speaking neighbor Haiti to the west. Its size and population — about 19,000 square miles and 11 and a half million — are comparable to, though somewhat larger than, those of Switzerland.
In addition to Adolphe Adam’s “O Holy Night,” César Franck’s “Panis Angelicus,” Vladimir Vavilov’s (not Schubert’s) “Ave Maria,” the “Rejoice Greatly” aria from Handel’s “Messiah,” two movements from Mozart’s “Exsultate, jubilate” and a medley of traditional Christmas songs, the “Christmas in Harmony” program includes works by three Dominican composers: Julio Alberto Hernández (1900-1999), Ramón Díaz (1901-1976) and Manuel Rueda (1921-1999).
The 125th anniversary of Hernández’s birth will be celebrated with performances of his “Dulce Recuerdo,” arranged by conductor and composer Darwin Aquino, his “Serenata” and his and poet Juan Antonio Alix’s “Aguinaldo Navideño.”
Hernández’s compositions were based in part on Dominican folk music, in many cases merengue, which is typically performed on accordion, tambora drum and güira, a perforated metal sheet played with a brush.
“Aguinaldo Navideño” was arranged by Eddy Díaz, also the arranger of the Adam piece and of Rueda’s “Navidad Luz del Mundo.” The piece by Ramón Díaz to be performed is titled “Elegía.”
Aquino will conduct the D.C.-based Trinity Chamber Orchestra, founded by Richard Fazio in 2000, originally as the resident chamber group at Georgetown’s Trinity Theatre. Fazio said that he hoped the musicians would gain “a new awareness and appreciation into the music being performed … music that will enlighten our lives with new insight into Dominican culture.”
Aquino, who earned a Master of Music degree from Florida International University, is currently artistic and music director of the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor-in-residence with the Washington University Symphony Orchestra. He was recently appointed head of music for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where he conducted the New Works Collective.
Earlier, Aquino served for more than 15 years as artistic and music director of the young people’s orchestral and choral program El Sistema in the Dominican Republic, where he was also director of the National Conservatory of Music and composer-in-residence with the Santo Domingo Music Festival and the Dominican National Symphony Orchestra.
Ambassador Castillo Báez noted that the Dec. 7 concert is “part of a broader program of cultural diplomacy that seeks to engage audiences more deeply with the Dominican Republic, its traditions, its creativity and its spirit.”
