Maestra Kim Diehnelt brings her own brand of beauty and passion to the world through her work as an international conductor, accomplished composer and artistic coach.

Trained in the United States and Europe, Maestra Diehnelt established her craft as conductor and composer in both Finland and Switzerland, leading Baltic, Russian, and European ensembles. In Helsinki, Maestra Diehnelt founded the Helsinki Camerata, a group dedicated to a chamber music approach to orchestral performance.

Maestra Diehnelt has been composing works for solo instruments, chamber, orchestral and choral ensembles since 2011. Her style is best described as a “Nordic Palestrina” as her works possess a lyrical, vocal quality with an attention to beauty and the sense of an unfolding story. She was a semi-finalist for The American Prize in Composition in the Professional Orchestra division in 2015 for her work Montegar for viola and strings. Maestra Diehnelt was recently named the KISMET Foundation’s 2018 Artist-in-Residence.

An active guest conductor in the United States and abroad, she is acknowledged as an authority on the music of Edward Elgar. Maestra Diehnelt regularly presents the orchestral works of Edward Elgar through conducting performances and providing arrangements for chamber ensembles. Guest conducting includes: Orquestra Sinfónica de Aguascalientes (Mexico), Lake Forest Civic Orchestra (IL), South Bohemian Chamber Orchestra (Czech Republic), Seinäjoki Symphony Orchestra (Finland), Waukegan Symphony Orchestra (IL), Rose City Chamber Orchestra (OR), Civic Orchestra (Chicago, IL), VanderCook College of Music Orchestra (Chicago, IL) and Aspen Music Festival.

Maestra Diehnelt’s conducting activities include Music Director positions with the Helsinki Camerata, Helsinki Community College Orchestra, Southwest Minnesota Orchestra, South Loop Symphony, Chicago Reading Orchestra, and most recently with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra in the greater Chicago area.
 
As an opera and ballet conductor, Maestra Diehnelt has led productions by Chicago Folks Operetta, American Chamber Opera, Main Street Opera (IL), Ensemble Warhol (Boston, MA),
American Opera Group, Opera Millennium (MN), and Ragamala Music and Dance Theater (MN).

Other artistic activities include: Artistic Director of the Sounds of the South Loop in Chicago, and Director of Chamber Music at the Helsinki University.

Maestra Diehnelt’s primary teachers have been Walter Hügler (Biel, Switzerland), and Atso Almila (Helsinki, Finland). She also received training at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, Biel Academy, Switzerland, and the Sibelius Academy and Helsinki Conservatory in Finland.