January 25, 2023

Slatkin’s first visit to Spokane culminated in both a warm welcome from audiences and rave reviews from critics. As Larry Lapidus of the Spokesman-Review averred, “[T]he meticulous clarity with which he conveyed the instructions of the score to the orchestra was a source of wonder. Every dynamic marking, every hint of phrasing and expression, every shift in balance somehow found its way to one of the conductor’s fingers, shoulders, eyes or earlobes in a way that made clear to the players exactly what they should do.”

Slatkin led the Spokane Symphony in performances of Cindy McTee’s Double Play, Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini, and Brahms’s First Symphony. While in Spokane, he also spent time getting to know the community with pre-concert lectures, a presentation to college students about music leadership, and a book reading at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.