LEONARD SLATKIN, jury chairman & conductor – Final Round
Internationally acclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin is music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and the Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL). He also maintains a rigorous schedule of guest conducting and is active as a composer, author, and educator.
Mr. Slatkin’s more than 100 recordings have garnered seven Grammy® Awards and 64 nominations. His recent Naxos recordings include works by Saint-Saëns, Ravel, and Berlioz with the ONL and music by Copland, Rachmaninov, Borzova, McTee, and John Williams with the DSO. He has also recorded the complete Beethoven and Tchaikovsky symphonies with the DSO.
A recipient of the prestigious National Medal of Arts, he also holds the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. He has received Austria’s Declaration of Honor in Silver, the American Symphony Orchestra League’s Gold Baton Award, and the 2013 ASCAP Deems Taylor Special Recognition Award for his book, Conducting Business.
Mr. Slatkin has conducted virtually all of the leading orchestras in the world. He has held posts as Music Director of the New Orleans, St. Louis, and National Symphony Orchestras. He was chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and has served as principal guest conductor of London’s Philharmonia and Royal Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and the Minnesota Orchestra.