LEONARD SLATKIN

CONDUCTOR | COMPOSER | AUTHOR

There is no "perfect" in music. If I were ever to come off the
stage feeling that the performance could not have been
better, it would then be time to quit.

LEONARD SLATKIN

CONDUCTOR | COMPOSER | AUTHOR

There is no “perfect” in music. If I were ever to come off the stage feeling that the performance could not have been better, it would then be time to quit.

LATEST NEWS

Slatkin Makes Debut with MÁV Symphony Orchestra in Budapest
By leonard slatkin
November 19, 2021

Leonard Slatkin is in Budapest working with the MÁV Symphony Orchestra, marking his first time conducting a Hungarian orchestra in his fifty-year career. He will lead the orchestra in works by Corigliano, Dohnányi, and Beethoven.

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leonard slatkin
Naxos to Release Complete Leroy Anderson Box Set
By leonard slatkin
November 2, 2021

This month, Naxos Records will release a five-CD box set of Leroy Anderson’s complete orchestral works as recorded by Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

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leonard slatkin

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Upcoming Events

Thu 09

Carnegie Mellon University Philharmonic

January 30, 2022 @ 7:30 pm

Feb 11

Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra

February 11, 2022 @ 7:30 pm

Latest from the Journal

It has been three years since I stepped down from my more-than-40-year role as a music director. Having held this position with orchestras both in the States and Europe, I covered a lot of musical ground and accumulated a planeload of airline miles. Some people believe I have retired from conducting, but that is hardly the case.

However, there are some very different aspects to life as a veteran guest conductor, most of which I had not really anticipated until recently. The experience of focusing solely on the music has been much more profound than I expected. Not required to make any administrative decisions, I have been relieved of stress that only became apparent to me after I left my positions. As a result of having fewer responsibilities, I have had time to reexamine several pieces that I have wanted to focus on, whether they were going to appear in upcoming programs or not.

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), and Conductor Laureate of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He maintains a rigorous schedule of guest conducting throughout the world and is active as a composer, author, and educator.

Slatkin has received six Grammy awards and 35 nominations. A recipient of the prestigious National Medal of Arts, he also holds the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. He has received the Prix Charbonnier from the Federation of Alliances Françaises, Austria’s Decoration of Honor in Silver, the League of American Orchestras’ Gold Baton Award, and the 2013 ASCAP Deems Taylor Special Recognition Award for his debut book, Conducting Business. A second volume, Leading Tones: Reflections on Music, Musicians, and the Music Industry, was published by Amadeus Press in 2017. His latest book, Classical Crossroads: The Path Forward for Music in the 21^st Century (2021), is available through Rowman & Littlefield.

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