Leonard Slatkin will lead the Nashville Symphony in three concerts of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, representing his final concerts as that orchestra’s music advisor. Slatkin, who is also currently music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, served a three-year term as Nashville’s music advisor while it searched for a new music director, following the death of Kenneth Schermerhorn in 2005. Alan D. Valentine, the orchestra’s president and CEO, emphasized in a statement that Slatkin would continue to lead concerts in Nashville, including two next month as part of the First Tennessee Summer Festival. “We wouldn’t be where we are today without Leonard Slatkin,” said Valentine in a statement. “The entire organization and the community owe a huge debt to him for stepping in during a critical moment in the orchestra’s history.” Giancarlo Guerrero becomes Nashville’s next music director in September.
Posted May 12, 2009