Maria Seletskaja is Music Director and Chief Conductor of the English National Ballet and the English National Ballet Philharmonic. Known for her musical integrity, technical precision and strong narrative instinct, she has established herself as a conductor equally at home in the theatre and on the symphonic podium.

Her artistic path is unusually interdisciplinary. Before turning fully to conducting, Seletskaja enjoyed an international career as a ballet soloist, performing with companies including the Staatsballett Berlin, Ballet Zürich and the Royal Ballet of Flanders. This experience continues to inform her approach to music-making: an instinctive understanding of movement, dramatic pacing and long-form narrative structure shapes her work with orchestras and dancers alike.

Seletskaja began her conducting career in Europe and North America through collaborations with leading ballet companies. She has appeared as guest conductor with the Paris Opera Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet and Lithuanian National Ballet, conducting major works of the classical repertoire including Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, Adam’s Giselle and Riisager’s Études. From 2019 to 2022 she served as Conductor-in-Residence with The National Ballet of Canada in Toronto.

In 2025 she was appointed Music Director of the English National Ballet and the English National Ballet Philharmonic, where she leads a broad repertoire ranging from nineteenth-century ballet classics to contemporary works. Her collaborations with the company have included performances at major venues such as Sadler’s Wells Theatre and the Royal Albert Hall.

Alongside her theatre work, Seletskaja is developing an increasingly active presence on the symphonic podium. She has conducted orchestras including the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, the Estonian Sinfonietta and the orchestra of the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin. Her symphonic repertoire focuses particularly on Romantic and early twentieth-century orchestral music, where her theatre background informs a distinctive approach to pacing, colour and musical storytelling.

Seletskaja is also Artistic Director of the Narva-Jõesuu FEestival in Estonia, created in collaboration with the Estonian Sinfonietta, where she curates programs exploring connections between symphonic repertoire, theatre and dance.

She studied orchestral conducting at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Arvo Volmer and has participated in masterclasses with Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi and Leonid Grin. Earlier studies included training in music theory and orchestration at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

A laureate of the Vaganova-Prix and Helsinki International Ballet Competition, Seletskaja maintains an active interest in instrumental performance and plays both piano and violin.