English National Ballet has appointed Maria Seletskaja its new Music Director from the beginning of the 2024–5 season.
Seletskaja started her career as a professional ballet dancer before making the transition to conductor. She studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston and, during her final years as a dancer, was also an assistant conductor at Stuttgart Ballet where she made her conducting debut in April 2017. Since 2018, she has conducted with ballet companies including The National Ballet of Canada, where she was Conductor-in-Residence, San Francisco Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet.
Aaron. S Watkin, ENB’s Artistic Director, said, “Maria’s innate understanding of the art form gives her a unique perspective, which, alongside her energy and intelligence, are a perfect fit for Music Director at English National Ballet”
Working closely with the Artistic Director, the role of Music Director will see Seletskaja oversee the creative direction and quality of music at English National Ballet and English National Ballet Philharmonic, as well as leadership of the Music Department.
Seletskaja will conduct performances of Nutcracker and Swan Lake in-the-round in January and June 2024 respectively. She takes over from Gavin Sutherland, who will continue to work with ENB as Principal Guest Conductor.