Olha Dondyk

Ukrainian-born conductor Olha Dondyk is rapidly gaining recognition for her musical sensitivity, technical assurance, and commitment to cultural advocacy. 

A semi-finalist in the 2024 La Maestra International Conducting Competition in Paris, Dondyk received a special mention from the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) and joined La Maestra Academy. She made her international debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert supporting Ukraine in January 2024 and was immediately reinvited for future collaborations.

In the 2025/26 season, Dondyk builds a strong relationship with the Orchestre de Paris, leading them in family and school concerts, for their Summer Academy concert and assisting Klaus Mäkelä, Paavo Järvi, Andrés Orozco-Estrada and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Other engagements this season include appearances with Orchestre Avignon Provence, Residentie Orkest, Noord Nederlands Orkest, and the National Opera Orchestra of Albania. She collaborates with soloists such as Anna Federova, Antonii Baryshevskyi and Victor Julien-Laferrière.

Recent highlights include performances with Phion Orkest van Gelderland en Overijssel, Paris Mozart Orchestra at the Berlioz Festival, and Junge Norddeutsche Philharmonie. She has assisted conductors such as Lahav Shani, Maxime Pascal, Debora Waldman, and Petri Sakari, and participated in masterclasses with Pablo Heras-Casado and David Reiland. Her repertoire spans from Mozart, Beethoven, Dvořák, Honegger and Sibelius to contemporary Ukrainian composers such as Valentyn Sylvestrov and Svyatoslav Lunyov.

Dondyk began her musical journey in Kyiv, studying piano and violin before focusing on choral conducting at the R. M. Glière Kyiv Academy of Music. Deeply rooted in the rich choral tradition of her home country, she began conducting children’s choirs and served as assistant conductor for Andriy Bondarenko’s musical Kai and Gerda at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. 

In 2022, Dondyk relocated to Germany, where she continued her studies in orchestral conducting at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln under Professor Alexander Rumpf. She regularly undertakes internships with the Philharmonie Südwestfalen as part of her degree. She remains deeply engaged in promoting Ukrainian music and culture to German audiences, often playing the piano in duet with her mother, Oksana Dondyk.