Elena Dubinets

Elena Dubinets became our Artistic Director in September 2021.

A high-profile artistic leader and music scholar, Elena Dubinets joined us as Artistic Director in September 2021, having previously held top artistic planning positions at the Atlanta and Seattle symphony orchestras. In 2018 she was named one of Musical America’s Professionals of the Year. Her work within the wider community includes appointments on the Recording Academy Board of Directors and as Chair of the City of Seattle Music Commission.

Community values

Elena cares deeply about reflecting the values of the community in projects that bring people together to create and enjoy deep, meaningful explorations through all types of music. An influencer who addresses both local and global issues, and keen to embed an organisation’s mission in its communities, Elena is devoted to devising and presenting exciting experiences that people can’t stop talking about.

Music for everyone

Harnessing social interaction around important issues is essential to Elena. She is a passionate advocate of BIPOC and female composers and artists, as well as an initiator of projects striving to reflect our time for all people, fostering a culture of learning, and undoing historic inequities. She has envisioned and premiered more than 100 new works by composers from all over the globe, organised tours to four continents, and overseen multiple Grammy-winning recording projects. Many of her projects have been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times and other publications.

Achievements in America

As co-executive producer of the Seattle Symphony Media, Elena oversaw all its recordings and broadcasts in the first five years of the label’s existence, which led to five Grammys and the 2018 Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year awards for the Seattle Symphony. Also in Seattle, she helped to oversee the construction of the experimental music and learning centre Octave 9 at Benaroya Hall, ensuring that it met its community and programming needs. As Chief Artistic Officer of the Atlanta Symphony, she led the development of a mission-focused plan for artistic and educational programming and for cross-campus collaborations with other resident companies of the Woodruff Arts Center (Alliance Theater and the High Museum of Arts).

The writer

Elena has taught at universities in the US, Russia and Costa Rica; published five books; and written hundreds of articles, liner and programme notes in multiple languages. Her latest book, Russian Composers Abroad: How They Left, Stayed, Returned, was published in 2021.

Honours

Elena received MA and PhD degrees from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia, lived in the USA from 1996, and moved to London in 2021.