“Leonard Slatkin has been a musical force in St. Louis since 1968, when he became the assistant conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra,” writes Sarah Bryan Miller in Sunday’s (11/6) St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri). “He went on to become music director in 1979, [stepping] away in 1996, taking the title of conductor laureate. Slatkin, now 72, still makes annual visits to Powell Symphony Hall…. This year’s program is all American music, beginning with a 14-minute piece he wrote himself. He’s got a full schedule lined up.… On Friday morning, the evening of Nov. 12 and the afternoon of Nov. 13, he’ll lead the SLSO. On Friday night, he’ll join resident conductor Gemma New and the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, which he founded in 1970.… We chatted about Slatkin’s St. Louis connections and ‘Kinah,’ the work he wrote in memory of his parents, violinist Felix Slatkin [SLSO’s assistant concertmaster for three years] and cellist Eleanor Aller.” Slatkin also speaks about music by Brahms, Gershwin, Copland, and Barber; his brother, Frederick Zlotkin, principal cellist of the New York City Ballet Orchestra for 30 years; and wrapping up his tenure at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2018.
Posted November 9, 2016
