I don't really think about retiring. I will retire just before people start saying, 'I knew Leonard Slatkin when he conducted well.

I use my hands like a sculptor, to mold and shape the sound I want, to clarify.

I knew I could never match my father as a violinist, and there were already four generations of outstanding cellists in the family.

A music director cannot and should not be chosen on the basis of a first date. It is not so difficult to make a good impression with a single appearance, usually containing some of a conductor's party pieces, works they have performed successfully many times before.

I'm not particularly lucid after a concert. I'm not very lucid before, either.

The conductor is the artistic leader and sometimes cultural arbiter of his or her community. It is their leadership that is looked to and should anything go wrong, they are the persons taking most of the heat.

The role of an orchestra in the 21st century isn't just playing, it's about developing future audiences and performers.