LEONARD SLATKIN

CONDUCTOR | COMPOSER | AUTHOR

LEONARD SLATKIN

CONDUCTOR | COMPOSER | AUTHOR

2012: To mark my first season at the Auditorium-Orchestre national de Lyon, we started out with the usual choice. It is always wonderful to do the “Fantastique,” and here we recorded both versions of “Un Bal.” These covers celebrate my 80th birthday on Sept. 1, tracing the history of the Slatkin family through their recordings. ... See MoreSee Less

2012: Culled from several performances, this disc of music by my last composer in residence during the SLSO years, Claude Baker, comprises four works. I commissioned two of them. These covers celebrate my 80th birthday on Sept. 1, tracing the history of the Slatkin family through their recordings. ... See MoreSee Less

2012: Taken from a 2001 performance with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, my contribution is a masterwork by Bohuslav Martinů. "The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca" is a work that should be heard more often. These covers celebrate my 80th birthday on Sept. 1, tracing the history of the Slatkin family through their recordings. ... See MoreSee Less

Today at 3pm Central on @classic1073, tune in for "The A Cappella Shuffle" episode of my weekly radio show,the Slatkin Shuffle, which is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Listen at 107.3FM or stream online at classic1073.org. ... See MoreSee Less

2012: John Corigliano’s score to the film "Edge of Darkness" was left on the cutting-room floor despite five days of recording sessions. Fortunately, it is preserved here. These covers celebrate my 80th birthday on Sept. 1, tracing the history of the Slatkin family through their recordings. ... See MoreSee Less

2012: An unusual album by an inventive Belarusian American composer. With authentic folk instruments, singers, and a children’s chorus, this was a fascinating album to make. These covers celebrate my 80th birthday on Sept. 1, tracing the history of the Slatkin family through their recordings. ... See MoreSee Less

LATEST NEWS

Slatkin Withdraws from Concerts through June
By leonard slatkin
May 4, 2018

Leonard Slatkin announced today that he regrettably must withdraw from his upcoming conducting dates this May and June. Maestro Slatkin will undergo heart bypass surgery next week and is expected to be fully recovered in about three months.

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leonard slatkin
Leonard Slatkin’s Conducting School, Lesson Nineteen: Putting It All Together, Part Four
By leonard slatkin
April 15, 2018

In this final episode of the Conducting School series, Leonard Slatkin addresses the decisions a conductor must make in the second through fourth movements of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

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leonard slatkin

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Latest from the Journal

FEBRUARY 2025

By leonard slatkin

I could spend this entire essay writing about an incredible trip to Thailand and Bali—the floating market, the train market, the monkey reserve, a royal wedding, and so much more—but I will let Cindy share a few photos and leave the rest up to your imagination.

January saw me back on the podium in three cities, each in Japan. The programs were varied in content but all dispatched with expertise by the orchestras I led. Since 1983, I have been coming to Tokyo on a regular basis to work with the NHK. On this visit, I led the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, one of the eleven professional ensembles that exist here.

Leonard Slatkin

Internationally acclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin is Music Director Laureate of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), Directeur Musical Honoraire of the Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL), Conductor Laureate of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO), Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, and Artistic Consultant to the Las Vegas Philharmonic. He maintains a rigorous schedule of guest conducting and is active as a composer, author, and educator.

A six-time Grammy winner and recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Slatkin also holds the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. He has been awarded the Prix Charbonnier from the Federation of Alliances Françaises, Austria’s Decoration of Honor in Silver, and the League of American Orchestras’ Gold Baton. He received the ASCAP Deems Taylor Special Recognition Award for his debut book, Conducting Business (2012), which was followed by Leading Tones (2017) and Classical Crossroads: The Path Forward for Music in the 21^st Century (2021). His latest books are Eight Symphonic Masterworks of the Twentieth Century (Rowman & Littlefield, spring 2024) and Eight Symphonic Masterworks of the Nineteenth Century (fall 2024), comprising essays that supplement the score-study process.

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