Author archive for leonard slatkin

  • MARCH 2018

    Even though my music directorship in Lyon has ended, the six-year tenure stayed very much in the forefront during the month of February. At this time, during the usually bitterly cold weather in Michigan, we put on a festival, in the past devoted to a single composer. With Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Mozart represented in previous seasons, it was time to try something different.

    What could be more natural than bringing some of the repertoire from France back to Detroit? After all, the Motor City was founded in 1701 by the explorer and adventurer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. It also happens that I drive one of his automobiles. Okay, so he really was from what is now part of Canada, but still, he did create this bustling town and give it a French moniker.

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  • Leonard Slatkin’s Conducting School, Lesson Seventeen: Putting It All Together, Part Two

    February 15, 2018

    In this lesson, Maestro Slatkin returns to his score study of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, delving further into what the conductor does when he/she studies a piece of music and how to translate and interpret what is on the page.

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  • DSO Kicks off February French Festival

    February 4, 2018

    The Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s fifth annual winter music festival will celebrate the music and culture of France, including six Orchestra Hall concerts conducted by Music Director Leonard Slatkin. “Le Max” (Midtown Detroit’s Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center) will buzz with additional special events, unique food and drink options, and Gallic spirit.

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  • FEBRUARY 2018

    It is not often that I get a relatively calm month in the middle of the concert season, so January turned out to be a nice breather before the heavyweight demands of the next months. With the DSO French Festival on the horizon, as well as assorted dates in Europe, Cindy and I thought that we could couple concert-giving with R&R.

    The first week of January had us wrapping up our Arizona getaway. I had never been to Sedona. Just staring at the majesty of the rock formations was enough to take one’s breath away. It is not difficult to understand why so many artists have been drawn to this part of the United States. Inspiration is visible throughout the region.

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  • Detroit Symphony Orchestra Announces 2018-19 Season

    January 26, 2018

    Slatkin, now in his 10th and final year as DSO music director, will return in 2018-19 as music director laureate to open the season with concerts featuring violinist Gil Shaham. He will return in Feb. to lead a three-week American Festival and will close the season in June with a program featuring pianist Makoto Ozone.

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  • Leonard Slatkin’s Conducting School, Lesson Sixteen: Putting It All Together, Part One

    January 15, 2018

    In this month’s video, Maestro Slatkin offers an in-depth look at Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, explaining the study process a conductor uses to prepare for a performance of this masterwork.

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  • DSO’s 2018 William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series Kicks Off

    January 9, 2018

    The Detroit Symphony Orchestra returns to seven Metro Detroit venues as the 2018 William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series gets underway. The program includes Fauré’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (with piano prodigy Harmony Zhu), and Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter.”

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  • JANUARY 2018

    “… and a Happy New Year!”

    Wasn’t 2017 fun? There was certainly no shortage of mind-numbing events and statements coming from all over the world. There are many days when I am grateful to be able to immerse myself in music, as if seeking refuge from elements of society that have gone off track.

    What better piece to convey the conflicts that emerged in 2017 than the Ninth Symphony by Gustav Mahler? This work was the final one I would lead before heading off to vacation. There are so many theories as to the meaning of the final completed symphony, it is impossible to state them all.

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  • Leonard Slatkin’s Conducting School, Lesson Fifteen: How It Looks and Sounds, Part Two

    December 15, 2017

    This month, Maestro Slatkin teaches viewers how to conduct two short excerpts for the purpose of practicing beat patterns, the first from Copland’s “Hoe Down” from Rodeo, and the second from the last movement of Brahms’s Symphony No. 1.

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  • Slatkin and McTee to Support Emerging Artists Fund at the DSO

    December 7, 2017

    The DSO announced that Music Director Leonard Slatkin and his wife, composer Cindy McTee, have committed $100,000 to the DSO’s endowment to showcase an emerging artist each season. Slatkin is in his 10th and final season as DSO Music Director before transitioning to the role of Music Director Laureate.

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