LEONARD SLATKIN

CONDUCTOR | COMPOSER | AUTHOR

LEONARD SLATKIN

CONDUCTOR | COMPOSER | AUTHOR

LATEST NEWS

“Take Care of This House”: Slatkin Reflects on His Visit to the Kennedy Center
By leonard slatkin
June 4, 2026

Read Leonard Slatkin’s reflections on his recent visit to the Kennedy Center, where he spent twelve years as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra.

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leonard slatkin
Leonard Slatkin to Receive Lincoln Medal as a Leading Advocate for the Nation’s Repertoire
By leonard slatkin
March 31, 2026

On May 31, Ford’s Theatre Society will present the Lincoln Medal to two distinguished honorees: Leonard Slatkin and Gary Sinise. The award recognizes individuals whose body of work and character reflect the enduring legacy of President Lincoln.

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JUNE 2026

By leonard slatkin

It is that time of year when concert seasons are winding down, and we take a bit of time to get ready for summer activities. May was one of the most exhilarating months I could have ever imagined, and not all the events were about conducting.

The last two weeks of the very long European tour finally arrived. In Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, I was not quite sure what to expect with a truly difficult program. Since we had six rehearsals, Music Director Karel Mark Chichon and I had decided to really challenge the orchestra.

Leonard Slatkin

Internationally acclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin was recently named Music Director of the Nashville Symphony. He will take the artistic helm of the orchestra beginning with the 2026/27 season, following his previous appointment as Artistic Advisor. His other titles include Music Director Laureate of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Directeur Musical Honoraire of the Orchestre National de Lyon, Conductor Laureate of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, 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. His debut book, Conducting Business (2012), for which he received the ASCAP Deems Taylor Special Recognition Award, 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 (spring 2024) and Eight Symphonic Masterworks of the Nineteenth Century (fall 2024), part of an ongoing series of essays that supplement the score-study process, published by Bloomsbury.

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