Dalia Stasevska

Dalia Stasevska (born 30 December 1984, Kyiv) is a Finnish conductor. She is currently the principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor-designate of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra.

Biography

Born in Ukraine, Stasevska and her family subsequently moved to Tallinn, and later to Finland when she was five. Her family lived in Helsinki for a year, and then moved to Tampere in southwest Finland. As a youth, Stasevska learnt the violin. She formally studied violin and composition at the Tampere Conservatory. She continued her musical studies in violin and viola at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki. In her 20s, she developed a new interest in conducting, and pawned her violin to finance education in conducting.[1] Stasevska studied conducting at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, where her teachers included Jorma Panula, and at the Sibelius Academy, where her teachers included Leif Segerstam.[2] She earned a diploma from the Sibelius Academy in 2012.

From 2010 to 2015, Stasevska was artistic director of the Kamarikesä Festival. From 2014 to 2016, Stasevska was an assistant conductor to Paavo Järvi at the Orchestre de Paris. In 2015, Stasevska first guest-conducted the Lahti Symphony Orchestra (Sinfonia Lahti).[3] On 10 December 2018, she conducted the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony 2018, the second female conductor ever to conduct the orchestra at the Prize Award Ceremony.

Stasevska made her UK guest-conducting debut in 2018 with the orchestra of Opera North. In May 2018, Stasevska first guest-conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) at a Maida Vale studio concert. On the basis of this appearance, in January 2019, the BBC SO announced the appointment of Stasevska as its next principal guest conductor, effective July 2019.[1] Stasevska is the first female conductor ever to be named principal guest conductor of the BBC SO, and the second female conductor to have a titled post with a BBC orchestra. She made her public debut with the BBC SO at The Proms in July 2019.[4] She went on to conduct the Last Night of The Proms in September 2020, under social distancing conditions and without an audience in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,[5] the second female conductor to conduct the Last Night and the third Last Night to feature a female conductor. In November 2020, the Royal Philharmonic Society announced Stasevska as the recipient of its 2020 Conductor Award.[6]

In May 2020, Sinfonia Lahti announced the appointment of Stasevska as its next chief conductor, effective from the 2021–2022 season, with an initial contract of three seasons,[7] and making her the first female conductor to be named chief conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. This appointment marks her first chief conductor post.

Stasevska is married to the Finnish musician and composer Lauri Porra, the bassist for Stratovarius and the great-grandson of Jean Sibelius.[1]

References
  1. Imogen Tilden (2019-01-25). "Dalia Stasevska joins BBC Symphony Orchestra as principal guest conductor". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  2. Freya Parr (2019-01-25). "BBC Symphony Orchestra announces its new principal guest conductor". BBC Music Magazine (Classical Music.com). Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  3. Anne Honkanen (2020-05-20). "Dalia Stasevskasta Sinfonia Lahden uusi ylikapellimestari". Etelä-Suomen Sanomat. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  4. Mark Pullinger (2019-08-07). "Prom 25: Soulful Weinberg from Sol Gabetta and the BBCSO". Bachtrack. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  5. "Subdued Proms concludes after Rule, Britannia! row". BBC News. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  6. "2020 RPS Awards winners announced" (Press release). Royal Philharmonic Society. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  7. "Dalia Stasevska to become Chief Conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra from 2021/22 season" (Press release). Lahti Symphony Orchestra. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
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