LEONARD SLATKIN

CONDUCTOR | COMPOSER | AUTHOR

LEONARD SLATKIN

CONDUCTOR | COMPOSER | AUTHOR

LATEST NEWS

Slatkin Returns to the Podium to Lead Encore at DSO Heroes Gala
By leonard slatkin
June 25, 2018

Leonard Slatkin returned to Orchestra Hall stage this past Saturday, June 23, leading the encore at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s eighth annual Heroes Gala concert. This marked his first appearance on the podium since undergoing bypass surgery on May 8, and his last performance as DSO music director.

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leonard slatkin
DSO to Honor Music Director Leonard Slatkin at Annual Heroes Gala
By leonard slatkin
June 6, 2018

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra will honor philanthropists Penny & Harold Blumenstein and Music Director Leonard Slatkin at the eighth annual Heroes Gala and Benefit Concert on Saturday, June 23. Proceeds from the gala will support the DSO’s commitment to transforming the lives of young people through music education.

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leonard slatkin

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JANUARY 2026

By leonard slatkin

We made it! Somehow, we managed to get through 2025 and are heading into the New Year with hopes that may or may not be dashed by the many variables in our lives now. But at least for this musician, the year ended on several notes of optimism contained within the piece I led in Tokyo.

The month started off in a city that I had never heard of, much less conducted in. Takasaki is located in the Gunma Prefecture, about an hour’s train ride from Tokyo Station. The Gunma Symphony Orchestra was kind enough to ask me to be part of its eightieth anniversary celebrations.

Leonard Slatkin

Internationally acclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin is 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, Artistic Consultant to the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and Artistic Advisor to the Nashville Symphony. 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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