The Finnish National Opera and Ballet has appointed Finnish conductor Dima Slobodeniouk as its next Principal Conductor. The decision was approved by the Board of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet Foundation on 10 June, following consultations with personnel groups across the organisation.
Slobodeniouk will begin his four-year tenure on 1 August 2026, succeeding in a role that combines artistic leadership of the orchestra with close collaboration alongside the opera’s artistic management and guest conductors. He will report to Opera Artistic Director Thomas de Mallet Burgess and serve through 31 July 2030.
According to the company, the selection process placed particular emphasis on the ability to develop both the orchestra and the opera singers while maintaining the highest artistic standards in performance.
“I am very pleased that Dima Slobodeniouk will take up the post of Principal Conductor this autumn,” said Board Chair Kim Ignatius. “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.”
The appointment received unanimous support from the orchestra of the Finnish National Opera. While the opera singers noted that they had limited experience working with Slobodeniouk, they expressed their full support for his appointment.
Born in Moscow and based in Helsinki, Slobodeniouk has built an international career with leading orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic. He served as Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia from 2013 to 2022 and was Principal Conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Sibelius Festival between 2016 and 2021.
His guest conducting engagements have included appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra.
Slobodeniouk is not entirely new to the Finnish National Opera. In 2023 he conducted Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the company, and his first operatic assignment as Principal Conductor will be a new production of Britten’s Peter Grimes in autumn 2026.
Thomas de Mallet Burgess said the company had sought a musician capable of uniting “stage and pit” through artistic skill, communication and collaboration. “When one strips away the many considerations relating to the appointment, Dima Slobodeniouk is the candidate who presents with the distinctive qualities to make this happen,” he said.
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