* 1944 – Leonard Slatkin, American conductor and composer

* Leonard Slatkin introduced Elgar's Enigma Variations from BBC Proms 1995

* Complete variation performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin in 1995 BBC Proms.

The Choir has appeared at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC and the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall ( in New York City ) on numerous occasions, performing and premiering works such as John Corigliano ’ s “ Poem On His Birthday ,” “ Too Hot to Handel ” arranged by Broadway composers Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson and Hannibal Lokumbe ’ s “ African Portraits ,” led by music director Leonard Slatkin, as part of the Kennedy Center ’ s African Festival.

Besides visiting composers, some legendary conductors have led the orchestra, including Artur Rodziński, Walter Damrosch, Sir Thomas Beecham, John Barbirolli, Andre Kostelanetz, Lorin Maazel, Leonard Bernstein, Guido Cantelli, Victor de Sabata, Dmitri Mitropoulos, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Charles Münch, Paul Paray, Rafael Kubelík, Daniel Barenboim, István Kertész, Karl Richter, Antal Doráti, Leonard Slatkin, Andrew Davis, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Simon Rattle, Kurt Masur, Neeme Järvi, Kiril Kondrashin, Eugene Ormandy, Georg Solti, Alex Shkurko, Michael Kamen, Christopher Hogwood and Bruno Walter

The final concert in the opera house, a Beethoven program conducted by Leonard Slatkin, was in June 1980.

In 2000, Davis was succeeded by Leonard Slatkin, whose relationship with the players was uneasy, and whose repertoire was not generally liked by the orchestra or the audiences ; he was felt to emphasise twentieth century American music at the expense of cutting-edge modern works and the central European classics.

The Orchestra has also had many distinguished guest conductors, including Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Edward Elgar, Morton Gould, Walter Hendl, Erich Kunzel, Erich Leinsdorf, Charles Munch, Eugene Ormandy, André Previn, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Maurice Ravel, Arnold Schoenberg, Leonard Slatkin, Leopold Stokowski, Richard Strauss, George Szell, Michael Tilson Thomas, Bruno Walter, and John Williams.

After a five-year search, the DSO announced on October 7, 2007, the appointment of Leonard Slatkin as its twelfth music director.

* Leonard Slatkin ( 2008 – present )

Recordings include Eugene Onegin with Sinfonia 21 and Edward Downes, Salad Days and Walton's Henry V with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin.

Leonard Slatkin, chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 2000 – 2004, expressed a desire to tone down the nationalism of the Last Night somewhat, and on the Last Night of the seasons from 2002 until 2007 Rule Britannia has only been heard as part of Henry Wood's Fantasia on British Sea Songs ( another piece traditional to the Last Night ) rather than separately.

In June 2007, the orchestra announced the appointment of American conductor Leonard Slatkin as the orchestra's principal guest conductor, as of the 2008-2009 season.

** William Hoekstra ( engineer ), Leonard Slatkin ( conductor ) & the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra for Copland: Music for Films ( The Red Pony, Our Town, Etc.

** Jay David Saks ( producer ), Leonard Slatkin ( conductor ) & the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra for Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in B Flat

** Paul Goodman ( engineer ), Leonard Slatkin ( conductor ) & the Saint Louis Symphony for Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in B Flat, Op.

** Joanna Nickrenz ( producer ), Leonard Slatkin ( conductor ), Michelle De Young, various artists, the Washington Choral Arts Society Male Chorus, the Washington Oratorio Society Male Chorus & the National Symphony Orchestra for Corigliano: Of Rage and Remembrance

** Lawrence Rock, William Hoekstra ( engineers ), Leonard Slatkin ( conductor ) & the Saint Louis Symphony for Copland: Dance Symphony ; Short Symphony ; Organ Symphony

The piece, titled The Melody of Rhythm ; Concerto premiered on 9 September 2006 with Leonard Slatkin conducting the Nashville Symphony.

On the recording, the orchestral parts are performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, with Leonard Slatkin once again holding the baton.

In 2006, Leonard Slatkin and the University of Michigan School of Music Symphony won a Grammy for Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience.

* An American Cantata ( for Orchestra and 2000 Voices ( 2000 ), commissioned by the Kennedy Center – a choral symphony in three movements, which premiered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial by the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin