Montero & Shostakovich

Dalia Stasevska’s charismatic and dynamic musicianship has established her as a conductor of exceptional versatility. Chief Conductor of Lahti Symphony Orchestra from 2021/22 season and Artistic Director to the International Sibelius Festival; Dalia also holds the post of Principal Guest Conductor to the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She made her BBC Proms debut in 2019 and conducted the Last Night of the Proms in 2020. In 2021 she conducted the First Night of the BBC Proms and together with BBC Symphony they opened the 2021 Edinburgh International Festival. 

Highlights of the 2021/22 season include debuts with New York Philharmonic, Baltimore and Seattle Symphonies as well as the opening of Tongyeong Festival with soloist Truls Mørk. Dalia will return to the Oslo Philharmonic, NAC Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and to the Finnish National Opera to conduct a double bill of Poulenc’s La voix humane and Weill’s Songs with Karita Mattila. With the BBC Symphony Orchestra Dalia will conduct at the Barbican Hall as well as elsewhere in the UK and in Germany. Recent engagements have included Orchestre National de France, Swedish Radio Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Seoul Philharmonic and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. 

A passionate opera conductor, Dalia Stasevska returned to Norske Opera to conduct Madama Butterfly and Lucia di Lammermoor. She has conducted Don Giovanni with Kungliga Opera Stockholm, directed by Ole Anders Tandberg as well as Opéra de Toulon conducting Eugene Onegin. Other productions include Cunning Little Vixen with Finnish National Opera as well as Sebastian Fagerlund’s Höstsonaten at the 2018 Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, featuring Anne-Sofie von Otter. 

Dalia originally studied as a violinist and composer at the Tampere Conservatoire and violin, viola and conducting at the Sibelius Academy. As a conductor her teachers include Jorma Panula and Leif Segerstam. In December 2018, she had the honour of conducting the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic at the Nobel Prize Ceremony in Stockholm. Dalia was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Conductor Award in 2020.

Gabriela Montero

Pianist and Composer

Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered her critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Anthony Tommasini remarked in The New York Times that “Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”

Celebrated for her exceptional musicality and ability to improvise, Gabriela Montero has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras. A graduate and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, she is also a frequent recitalist and chamber musician, having given concerts at such distinguished venues as the Wigmore Hall, Kennedy Center, Vienna Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus. 

She made her debut with the NAC Orchestra in 2016 and was the recipient of the prestigious Heidelberger Frühling Music Prize in 2018.

Montero is also an award-winning and bestselling recording artist. Her most recent album features her own Piano Concerto No. 1 (the “Latin” Concerto) and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, recorded with the Orchestra of the Americas in Frutillar, Chile. 

Born in Venezuela, Montero made her concerto debut at age eight in her hometown of Caracas. Winner of the Fourth International Beethoven Award, she is a committed advocate for human rights, whose voice regularly reaches beyond the concert hall. Montero was named an Honorary Consul by Amnesty International in 2015 and recognized with Outstanding Work in the Field of Human Rights by the Human Rights Foundation for her ongoing commitment to human rights advocacy in Venezuela.  

Following three successful seasons (1996-1999) as Acting Principal Trumpet of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Karen Donnelly was unanimously appointed Principal Trumpet in October 1999, and continues to enjoy each year with this wonderful ensemble.

A native of Regina, Saskatchewan, Karen picked up a trumpet for the first time in her elementary school band program and she was hooked.  Her formal training includes a Bachelor of Arts in Music program at the University of Regina and later a Master's of Music from McGill University.

Karen held the position of Principal Trumpet with Orchestra London (Canada) from 1994-1996, and performed with many ensembles in southwestern Ontario during her time there.

Since she burst on the Ottawa scene in 1996, Ms. Donnelly has done concerts and interviews for CBC (French and English), performances with the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet, and the large ensemble, Capital BrassWorks.  In 2008, Capital Brass Works released its third album, “Gabriel’s Sister” featuring Ms. Donnelly as soloist.

Karen has been featured with professional orchestras, community amateur orchestras, and many local school bands.  These include the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra, Kington Symphony, Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra London, Hannaford Silver Street Band, Maple Leaf Brass Band, Parkdale Orchestra and the Regina Catholic Schools Honour Band. 

Music education has always been, and continues to be, very close to Karen’s heart.  Her work with the Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet and Capital BrassWorks creates opportunities for educational concerts and workshops in schools. Through the NAC Music Education programs, Karen has given master classes in Switzerland, Mexico, China, United States, United Kingdom and Canada from coast to coast.  Ms. Donnelly joined the teaching staff at the University of Ottawa in 2002, and since 2009, Karen has been assisting with the Leadingnote OrKidstra program.