Dima Slobodeniouk is extending his tenure as Principal Conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of the orchestra’s international Sibelius Festival until summer 2021. He is holding both positions since the beginning of the 2016/2017 season.

Slobodeniouk’s choices of programmes and artists have won widespread acclaim, and his recording with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra (BIS) including Kalevi Aho’s Bassoon Concerto received a prestigious BBC Music Magazine Award in April 2018.

Slobodeniouk is looking forward to new encounters with Lahti audiences. ‘I am really happy that my collaboration with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra will continue, and that we will have the chance to develop Lahti’s own orchestra even further’, he says. ‘My first two years have flown by, and now that we have made good progress with new projects, it seems very natural to continue working together.’

The Lahti Symphony Orchestra’s General Manager Teemu Kirjonen is delighted at the continuation of the collaboration with Slobodeniouk. ‘After successful years with Vänskä, Saraste and Kamu, expectations for Slobodeniouk’s time were very high – and they have been brilliantly fulfilled’, he adds. ‘Slobodeniouk has received great acclaim from many directions for his work, and the new agreement is an excellent way of ensuring the orchestra’s artistic development prospects for several years to come’, Kirjonen concludes.

Dima Slobodeniouk is also Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, and in the current season he has made successful debuts with orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.