Alexandros Darna
- Adjunct Instructor John J. Cali School of Music John J. Cali School of Music
- darnaa@montclair.edu
- Office Hours (Fall)
-
By appointment
Biography
Deeply influenced by his Cypriot-Cuban heritage, Alexandros Darna crafts music that blends dance rhythms and musical idioms from his two cultural homelands. Reflecting his passion for stylistic eclecticism and cross-disciplinary collaboration, his work spans opera, dance, Latin jazz and pop-orchestra arrangements, electronic music, and film scoring.
Alexandros’s music has been premiered at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall by AXIOM and recorded by SOLI and Christian Tran. Ensembles that have performed his work include the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, Hub New Music, Unheard-of//Ensemble, TratSik Quartet, TrakArt Pops Orchestra, Triptycho Ensemble, and Trio Ostinato. His work has also been featured in concerts presented by the Asian American New Music Institute, Society for New Music, Indiana State University, and Brigham Young University, with international performances in Cyprus, Greece, Germany, Estonia, Portugal, and Thailand.
Alexandros is the recipient of the Brevard Performance Prize, the Thea Musgrave Commissioning Prize, the AXIOM Commission Prize, the New York Federation of Music Clubs Prize, and was a winner of the SOLI 30X30X30 Project.
As an educator, Alexandros is dedicated to supporting the creative and technical growth of young musicians. Alexandros joined the New York Youth Symphony Composition Program in 2025 as the Assistant Director, and in addition to this role he teaches at Juilliard’s Extension Division, Juilliard’s Pre-College Division, and serves as a teaching assistant in undergraduate and graduate courses in theory, ear training, and orchestration at The Juilliard School. He also maintains a private studio, offering both in-person and virtual lessons in composition, theory, and ear training to students of all levels.
Alexandros is a D.M.A. candidate at The Juilliard School, where he also earned his M.M. in composition, studying with John Corigliano, David Ludwig, Amy Beth Kirsten, Melinda Wagner, and Robert Beaser. He previously completed his B.M. at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Mark Stambaugh and pursued studies at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba, where he immersed himself in the island’s Afro-Cuban musical traditions.
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