Dalia Stasevska (born 30 December 1984) is a Finnish conductor. She is currently the principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the
Lahti Symphony Orchestra The Lahti Symphony Orchestra (''Sinfonia Lahti'') is a Finnish orchestra, based in the city of Lahti. The orchestra is resident at the Sibelius Hall. The orchestra was founded in 1910, and placed under the control of the Lahti municipality in 19 ...
.
Biography
Born in
Kyiv,
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
,
Soviet Union, 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.
Stasevska studied conducting at the
Royal Swedish Academy of Music
The Royal Swedish Academy of Music ( sv, Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. At the time of its foundation, only one of its co-founder was a professional musician, Ferdi ...
, where her teachers included
Jorma Panula
Jorma Juhani Panula (born 10 August 1930) is a Finnish conductor, composer, and teacher of conducting. He has mentored many Finnish conductors, such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mikko Franck, Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä and Klaus ...
, and at the Sibelius Academy, where her teachers included
Leif Segerstam.
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
Paavo Järvi (; born 30 December 1962) is an Estonian-American conductor.
Early life
Järvi was born in Tallinn, Estonia, to Liilia Järvi and the Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi. His siblings, Kristjan Järvi and Maarika Järvi, are also mu ...
at the
Orchestre de Paris
The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris.
History
In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du C ...
. In 2015, Stasevska first guest-conducted the
Lahti Symphony Orchestra The Lahti Symphony Orchestra (''Sinfonia Lahti'') is a Finnish orchestra, based in the city of Lahti. The orchestra is resident at the Sibelius Hall. The orchestra was founded in 1910, and placed under the control of the Lahti municipality in 19 ...
(Sinfonia Lahti). On 10 December 2018, she conducted the
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( sv, Kungliga Filharmonikerna or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset.
Hi ...
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
The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...
(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.
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. She conducted 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, the second female conductor to conduct the Last Night and the third Last Night to feature a female conductor. In July 2021, she conducted the First Night of The Proms, the second female conductor ever to conduct the First Night. She was scheduled for the Last Night 2022 but 48 hours prior, it was cancelled due to the
death of Elizabeth II.
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, 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
Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...
and the great-grandson of
Jean Sibelius.
[ In November 2020, the Royal Philharmonic Society announced Stasevska as the recipient of its 2020 Conductor Award.]
References
External links
Official webpage of Dalia Stasevska
Harrison Parrott agency page on Dalia Stasevska
'My First Concert: Dalia Stasevska'. Opera North blog, 5 March 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stasevska, Dalia
1984 births
Living people
Finnish conductors (music)
Women conductors (music)
Finnish women musicians
21st-century Finnish musicians
21st-century women musicians
21st-century conductors (music)
Ukrainian emigrants to Finland
Musicians from Kyiv
musicians from Tampere
Sibelius Academy alumni
Finnish people of Ukrainian descent
Ukrainian emigrants