The Board of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet Foundation has officially appointed Dima Slobodeniouk as its new Principal Conductor.

Slobodeniouk will take up the post in August 2026.

The decision was made at a board meeting on June 10 and Slobodeniouk’s tenure will run through July 31, 2030.

In a statement, Kim Ignatius, Chair of the Board said, “I am very pleased that Dima Slobodeniouk will take up the post of Principal Conductor this autumn. I believe that his experience, broad expertise, motivation and open character will further strengthen the already high-quality work of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet. We are eagerly looking forward to the start of his tenure.”

The orchestra of the Finnish National Opera gave its unanimous support to the appointment of Slobodeniouk as Principal Conductor and opera singers of the Finnish National Opera felt unable to take a stance, as they have little experience of working with Slobodeniouk. Regardless of this, the opera singers stated that they will support Slobodeniouk fully should he be appointed.

Helsinki-based Slobodeniouk served as Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia in Spain from 2013 to 2022, and as Principal Conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Sibelius Festival from 2016 to 2021. He has worked with many leading international orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and NHK Symphony Orchestra.

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