“Ponomarchuk is one of the great Ukrainian conductors.”
Edward Docx, The New Statesman
Sought after for her emotionally charged interpretations and dynamic podium presence, Natalia Ponomarchuk is one of Ukraine’s most prominent orchestral conductors. She became Chief Conductor of the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, part of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, in 2018. In March 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Natalia escaped from Kyiv and now makes her home in London. She regularly undertakes guest conducting engagements around the world in addition to travelling back to Kyiv to conduct her orchestra there. Natalia and the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra are currently undertaking a project to record all seventeen chamber symphonies of the great Ukrainian composer, Yevhen Stankovych.
Previously, Natalia held positions as Resident Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Resident Conductor of Kiev Camerata, Principal Conductor of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Dnipro Philharmonic of Ukraine, and Resident Conductor of the Ukrainian National Radio. In Ukraine, she regularly appears with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, National Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra, The National Presidential Orchestra of Ukraine, and “INSO-Lviv” Symphony Orchestra of Lviv National Philharmonic, as well as at major Ukrainian international music festivals.
She appears regularly with top orchestras all over the world, including the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Espírito Santo, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Bursa State Symphony Orchestra, Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Chongqing Philharmonic Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga, and Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Ankara.
Natalia has performed at major concert halls and opera houses around the world including Madrid’s Teatro Real, Auditorio Nacional, and Teatro Zarzuela, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana, Warsaw’s Philharmonic Hall, Milan’s Sala Verdi, Porto’s Casa da Música, and Valencia’s Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.
Highlights of the current and future seasons include debuts with the Calgary Philharmonic, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Slovenian Philharmonic, George Enescu Philharmonic Bucharest, Danish Philharmonic Orchestra Sønderborg, I Pomeriggi Milan, and a return to the London Philharmonic to conduct the orchestra on tour in Belgium.
Natalia has collaborated with internationally renowned artists including Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Sergei Nakariakov, Alexander Knyazev, Qian Zhou, Benjamin Schmid, Lukáš Vondráček, Eggner Florian, László Fenyö, Denis Severin, Otto Sauter, Simonide Braconi, Leticia Moreno, Dominique de Williencourt, Valery Sokolov, Alexey Semenenko, Dima Tkachenko, Alexei Grynyuk, Alexander Melnikov, Mishka Rushdie Momen, Herbert Schuch, Dmytro Udovychenko, and Eva Rabchevska.
Natalia is a jury member of the 2025-26 Geneva Conducting Competition. She received her Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the National Music Academy of Ukraine in 1997, studying under Professor Allin Vlasenko, and in 2001 was named an Honoured Artist of Ukraine.