Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a musical family. His father Felix Slatkin was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet, and his mother Eleanor Aller was the cellist with the quartet. Slatkin studied at Indiana University and Los Angeles City College before attending the Juilliard School where he studied conducting under Jean Morel.

His conducting debut came in 1966 when he became artistic director and conductor of the award-winning New York Youth Symphony, and in 1968, Walter Susskind named him the assistant conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. He left St. Louis in 1977 to become music advisor of the New Orleans Symphony.

Slatkin returned to Saint Louis in 1979 as music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. The national profile of the orchestra increased notably under his tenure. In 1985, he recorded the first digital stereo version of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker with the SLSO. Upon the conclusion of his tenure in 1996, he became the SLSO's conductor laureate.

Slatkin was the director of the Blossom Festival of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1990-1999. Slatkin was music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. from 1996 to 2008.

In 2000, Slatkin became the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, he was only the second non-British person to conduct the Last Night of the Proms. This performance occurred in the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.

Slatkin was principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestrafrom 1997 to 2000. In 2004, the Los Angeles Philharmonic named him principal guest conductor at the Hollywood Bowl with his tenure ending in September 2007. In 2005, he became the principal guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London.

In 2006, Slatkin was named the music advisor to the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. In that capacity, he conducted the inaugural concert of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center on September 9, 2006.

On October 7, 2007, Slatkin announced he had reached agreement to become the new music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

On November 1, 2009, Slatkin suffered a heart attack while conducting in the Netherlands. In May 2010, the Orchestre National de Lyon announced the appointment of Slatkin as its music director.

Slatkin has been married four times. He has a son, Daniel. Slatkin married his fourth wife, the composer Cindy McTee, on 20 November 2011. Source: Wikipedia

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