Leonard Slatkin has strong ties to St. Louis. His father, conductor and violinist Felix Slatkin, was born in St. Louis and joined the St. Louis Symphony when he was still a teen. The younger Slatkin’s first conducting position with a major symphony orchestra came in 1968 when he was named Assistant Conductor of the St.
At noon on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the 90 members of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra are on stage at Powell Hall getting ready to rehearse German composer Paul Hindemith's "Symphonic Metamorphosis."
Typical Thanksgiving break plans for trombonist David Lindsay, a junior at Pattonville High School who's in his first year with the orchestra, don't include an hour and a half rehearsal.