In late August my Bar Harbor friend, Dr. Bill Horner, flew to Lahti, Finland to attend the Sibelius Festival. Bill has become quite a Sibeliophile listening to the composer’s symphonies, tone poems and reading his biography. Bill shared the diary of his trip that included his review of the three Sibelius concerts he attended. Through his writing I learned of conductor Dalia Stasevska. Bill admits to not having the credentials of a music critic, yet, his review of Maestra Stasevska is quite accurate, I am sure; “her conducting style spot on: her baton arm marked a tempo that even I could follow, and her left made long sweeping motions that imparted her evident passion to both her orchestra and to me.”
Another woman
conductor has crossed my radar screen and one whose career is worth researching
and writing about on my blog!
Dalia Stasevska was born Kyiv, Ukraine in 1984. Her family moved to Finland when she was five. Her music training began on the violin and eventually she studied composition at the Tampere Conservatory in Finland. Moving forward she continued her studies of violin and viola at the Sibelius Academy where conducting studies were afforded by pawning her violin.
Dalia has been appointed the Chief Conductor of the Lahti
Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director to the International Sibelius
Festival. She is Principal Guest
Conductor to the BBC Symphony Orchestra, made her BBC Proms debut in 2019
and in 2023 conducted the First Night of the BBC Proms.
Below is the link to to that BBC Proms concert. She begins conducting around 2 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT9IwYfTr7E&t=234s
Maestra Stasevska has conducted concerts with the world’s
leading orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic,
Seattle Symphony, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic. Chicago
Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-OrchesterBerlin and the list goes on and on.
Opera conducting is another of her musical
passions leading productions at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Finnish National
Opera and with the Kungliga Opera Stockholm.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
bestowed on Dalia the Order of Princess Olga of the III Degree for her
contribution to international cooperation and upholding Ukraine’s prestigious historical
and cultural heritage. She and her brothers have actively
raised donations for supplies given to the Ukraine people, delivering them in person.
Dalia is married to the great grandson
of Jean Sibelius, Lauri Porra, who is a Finnish composer and musician. The couple has one child.
Another brilliant woman conductor is on my radar. And, my thanks to my friend, Bill Horner, for making the trip to the Sibelius Festival!
#BringingBackBranscombe