Finnish-Ukrainian conductor Dalia Stasevska fondly remembers conducting the Cleveland Orchestra last year. A global sensation who’s conducted all around the world, Stasevksa says the orchestra simply astonished her.
“I’ve been to Cleveland once, and it was absolutely fantastic,” says Stasevska during a recent Zoom call from her home in Helsinki, where she was doing some practicing and working on a children’s project. “I conducted [Sibelius’s] Second Symphony, and I’ve been telling this story all around the world. I almost flew out of the podium. I tell you, the sound that they have, I don’t recall experiencing it anywhere. It’s something beyond magical. I can’t explain it, but it blew me off the stage.”
Stasevksa will return to town this month to lead the orchestra through Dvořák’s New World Symphony and Revueltas’ La Noche de los Mayas. The performances take place on November 20, 21, 22 and 23 at Mandel Concert Hall.
“I adore Czech music, so Dvořák is close to my heart,” says Stasevska, a classically trained violinist who famously pawned her instrument to pay for conducting classes. “It’s nice to bring it to Cleveland, and the orchestra there has just the right sound for it. I’m also excited about the Revuelta piece because [the Cleveland Orchestra] has never performed it before. It’s a nice combination. Both the composers are so important to the identities of their cultures.”
Recently, The New York Times profiled Stasevska in “‘Breakout Stars of 2023’alongside Last of Us actress Bella Ramsey and rapper Ice Spice. Named European of the Year in 2025 as part of the annual Europe Day celebration, Stasevska and her brothers have done humanitarian work supporting Ukraine. Throughout the war with Russia, she’s personally delivered supplies to the front lines.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale war from the third month, we collected 20,000 euros just through social media,” she says. “Ever since, we have collected over 200,000 euros from just ordinary people. We have been delivering humanitarian aid close to the front lines that we call the red areas. We’ve been mostly helping civilians and first responders. We bring footwear and small devices to cook food. We bring shovels. We do things for the season and things for how badly some areas have been hit.”
Both of her brothers are reporting on the war and are embedded in the country. Stasevksa has gone into the country three times to make deliveries.
“We do a lot of cultural activity too,” she says. “I’ve been conducting and recording a full album of Ukrainian music that will be out this August. It’s something Ukrainian music deserves. The music is absolutely fantastic and unknown because of its history of 300 years of suppression by Russia. I try to use every opportunity to tell people not to forget. Ukraine is shielding our whole democratic world as we know it and all the values we cherish that are important to the Western world. They are shielding us courageously, but they cannot do it alone.”
Stasevska grew up in the Soviet Union until she was 5 and says she remembers what it was like to live under a “violent machine.”
“I know what it is when you are not valued as a human,” she says. “I’ve seen the world where you are valued. I know what it is. I’m doing everything what I can to make sure I never want to be part of that world, and that’s what Ukrainians are fighting for. They never want to be part of that violent machine that crushes everything.”
The press release about Stasevska ’s upcoming visit to Cleveland says she’s become an “in-demand conductor.” Stasevska says she doesn’t like to talk about herself in those terms, but explains that her passion for conducting stems from her deep love for classical music and its ability to bridge cultures.
“For me, it’s important that I can communicate in this language with colleagues around the world and that they enjoy working with me and invite me back,” says Stasevska , principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. “We find a common base to make great concerts and touch people and tell stories. It’s unique and unbelievable place of communicating. It gives such a great platform to tell different stories across decades and countries and cultures. I try always to promote contemporary music. Sometimes, in our industry, we tend to look back too much. But this music is responding to our times and tells the stories of our times. I want to be that person that tells the story of right now.”
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