Music-Powered Couple: Dalia Stasevska and Lauri Porra

By Leilani Polk

Musical couple Dalia Stasevska and Lauri Porra are two extremely busy and productive people. 

Ever since she traded her violin for a conductor’s baton at age 29, Finnish-Ukrainian artist Dalia Stasevska has hit the ground running. She spent some time building a name for herself, serving as an assistant conductor to Paavo Järvi at the Orchestre de Paris and guest conducting concerts all over Europe. In 2019, after working professionally as a conductor for only four years, Stasevska became the youngest person and the first woman ever to be named Principal Guest Conductor at the London-based BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBCSO) and she earned the Royal Philharmonic Society’s 2020 Conductor Award for her work there. Currently, she’s also Chief Conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and Artistic Director for the International Sibelius Festival, both in Finland. She continues to appear with a range of other orchestras around the world as well as participating in various creative projects, including recordings (her debut solo album, Dalia’s Mixtape with BBCSO, is due in spring 2024) and tours, most recently a six-date BBC Proms run in Japan with BBCSO.  

Dalia was on the road for upwards of 200 days last season. “I am freelancing all over the Earth, all around the planet,” she said in a recent interview. “We moved to a new flat in March, and before this month [September], I spent maybe 10 days here.” She calls this “pretty typical.” 

Meanwhile, husband Lauri Porra — a Finnish composer and musician who comes from a family of professional music-makers stretching back four generations to the great Jean Sibelius — has enjoyed his own career upswing. He’s released five solo albums (including 2019’s Dust with his Flyover Ensemble) and five albums with power metal band Stratovarius (which has counted him as a member since 2009), as well as touring with Stratovarius regularly. He’s scored numerous television series, shorts and feature films (like 2018’s Scandinavian comedy crossover, Heavy Trip) in addition to participating in a diversity of musical projects (like an audio work, “Invisible Temple,” that was part of a recent Helsinki art exhibit). He has also composed nearly a dozen orchestral works beginning in 2015 with Entropia, which he will perform with the Seattle Symphony and Dalia at the podium (November 16–18, 2023). His forest-inspired small ensemble work, Cabins & Hideouts, will be presented as well, in Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center (November 17, 2023). Lauri says “nothing is typical” when it comes to his schedule. This year included tours in Mexico and Latin America followed by some European festival dates, all with Stratovarius; the premiere of his Tuba Concerto; and work on a few other commissions, which means he has been busy with much writing and studio work.  

Lauri is also Artistic Director of the Vantaa Orchestra and the Unelmien Heinola festival, the latter of which he co-founded with Dalia. This festival along with various other projects helps the couple get some much-needed time together and ensures that their respective busy schedules always overlap, which means they tend to work together often. This past April, Dalia conducted Lauri with the LSO in his 2018 work, Aineen ja ajan messu (Matter and Time) for orchestra, ensemble and soloists. On a few occasions, he joined Dalia in Glyndebourne, England, where she was mostly based for six weeks of rehearsals and 13 performances of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival. They also spent a few weeks together in late summer writing and recording a film score with the LSO. “Dalia is helping me out with some things, and I am doing some producing on her album. We are soft collaborating a lot,” Lauri explained. 

Their Unelmien Heinola (“the Heinola of Dreams”) festival was first launched in 2020 and has enabled the couple to be a part of and help build upon the community where they share a summer cottage, about two hours outside of Helsinki in a scenic little town called Heinola. It’s also a way to get the locals in touch with their own vibrant culture. The festival is free and open to everyone, and features an array of art, music, food and entertainment appealing to a vast age range, with activities for children through seniors. This summer’s Unelmien Heinola encompassed performances by both adult and children’s orchestras, a cinematic concert, a street food festival, guided meditations at the foot of the town’s poplar tree, a fashion show, a dinner under the stars, art exhibits and museum tours, and a group sing-along. “We built this outdoor venue that is the center of the festival, so most of the things are happening outdoors,” Dalia said. “We had 7,000 people there, a really huge amount for a small city.”

They always try to carve out meaningful moments together no matter where they might be. “Overall, especially when we are touring together, whenever there is a possibility to go to do some sightseeing or to go into the forest, we try to take it,” said Lauri. 

Before Dalia’s 2022 debut in Seattle, the couple spent a week driving from San Francisco to Seattle, stopping to see the redwoods and enjoy the Pacific Northwest’s bounty of natural beauty. “It was one of our most amazing, spectacular road trips,” Dalia gushed. 

At the time of our interview, the couple had just finished their film-scoring project and were taking a break while awaiting the birth of their first child. When they arrive in Seattle, they’ll have a six-week-old babe in arms. “It’s going to be her first trip,” Dalia said. Lauri’s sister will accompany them, taking care of their daughter while Dalia conducts and Lauri performs. “It’s like work and life,” Lauri said. “You learn as you go. Most things you cannot prepare for.” 

“We are very enthusiastic and relaxed about it,” Dalia added. “We have a new team member. This is our life, so let’s go back on the road.” 

“Hopefully she will have some great super early memories of Seattle,” said Lauri. “We will go to the forest, we will take her to Snoqualmie Falls, so she can feel the water droplets on her face and smell the forest.” 

Lauri Porra’s performances are generously sponsored by the James D. and Sherry Raisbeck Foundation. 

Dalia Stasevska’s performances are generously sponsored by Mel and Leena Sturman. 

SIBELIUS SYMPHONY NO. 5 

Thursday, November 16, at 7:30pm 
Friday, November 17, at 12 Noon 
Saturday, November 18, at 8pm 

Dalia Stasevska conductor 
Lauri Porra electric bass 
Seattle Symphony 
 
ANNA MEREDITH Nautilus 
LAURI PORRA Entropia Concerto for Electric Bass 
JEAN SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major  

Click here to read the program notes. 

CABINS & HIDEOUTS

Friday, November 17, at 7pm & 9pm 
Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center  
 
Lauri Porra electric bass  
Ilana Zaks violin
Artur Girsky violin  
Rachel Swerdlow viola  
Eric Han cello  

LAURI PORRA Cabins & Hideouts