He is an orchestral conductor and composer born in Los Angeles. His father was the violinist Felix Slatkin, who founded the Hollywood String Quartet, and his mother was Eleanor Aller who was the cellist with the quartet. He studied at Indiana University and Los Angeles City College before moving on to Juilliard School where he studied conducting with Jean Paul Morel. His made his conducting debut in 1966 and in 1968 he was made an assistant at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. In 1977 he went on to become the conductor of the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra, but returned to St Louis in 1979 as the musical director and placed them firmly on the musical map.
In 1996 he went to the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, and in 2000 was appointed principal conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which he left on 11th September 2004 on the 110th Night of the Proms. He is noted for his interpretation of 20th Century American music and British composers. He has also composed several works, which includes “The Raven” after the Edgar Allen Poe poem. In 1990 he was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
He suffered a heart attack while conducting in The Netherlands in 2009 but the following year took up the position of musical director of the Orchestre Nationale de Lyon and worked with them in that position from the 2011-12 season until he stood down in the 2016-17 season after which he was awarded the title Directeur musical honoraire of the ONL.
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra Recordings
Leroy Anderson compositions
Belle of the Ball
RCA 9026 68048-2 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Blue Tango
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Bugler’s Holiday
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Clarinet Candy
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Fiddle Faddle
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
First Day of Spring, The
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Forgotten Dreams
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Horse and Buggy
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Jazz Legato
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Jazz Pizzicato
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
The Penny Whistle Song
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
The Phantom Regiment
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Plink, Plank, Plunk!
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Promenade
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Sandpaper Ballet
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
Sleigh Ride
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
The Syncopated Clock
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
A Trumpeter’s Lullaby
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
The Typewriter
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
The Waltzing Cat
RCA 68048 (CD: The Typewriter)
Conductor – Leonard Slatkin
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