{"id":2360760,"date":"2026-04-06T12:18:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T12:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2360760"},"modified":"2026-04-06T12:18:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T12:18:46","slug":"nashville-symphony-music-director-honored-with-lincoln-medal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/nashville-symphony-music-director-honored-with-lincoln-medal\/","title":{"rendered":"Nashville Symphony Music Director honored with Lincoln Medal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><story-emphasis util-module-path=\"elements\/story\" section=\"entertainment\" link=\"\/entertainment\" premium-content=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<hr class=\"colorbar\" style=\"background:#009bff\"\/>\n<h2 class=\"display-5 subhead spacer-small\">Maestro Leonard Slatkin is set to be awarded Ford&#8217;s Theatre&#8217;s Lincoln Medal for reflecting the character of President Abraham Lincoln.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"videoWrap\" class=\"spacer-large videoWrap\" style=\"position:relative\"><media-video video-id=\"88627682007\" title=\"Leonard Slatkin announced as Nashville Symphony Music Director\" poster=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/11\/PNAS\/88626297007-leonard-slatkin-01.JPG?crop=4274,2404,x0,y0\" util-module-path=\"elements\/media\" placement=\"snow-video-story-priority\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"uwVideoPlaceholder\" slot=\"placeholder\" style=\"z-index:19;width:100%;padding-bottom:56.25%;position:relative\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"vidplaybtn\" style=\"display:-moz-box;display:-ms-flexbox;display:-webkit-flex;display:flex;background-color:rgba(0,0,0,.4);border:2px solid #fff;border-radius:80px;cursor:pointer;height:80px;width:80px;position:absolute;top:50%;left:50%;transform:translate(-50%,-50%);z-index:10\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div slot=\"videoDetails\" id=\"videoDetails\" class=\"videoDetails\" style=\"padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:8px\">\n<div id=\"videoDetailsContainer\" class=\"videoDetailsContainer\" hidden=\"\">\n<p>Leonard Slatkin announced as Nashville Symphony Music Director<\/p>\n<p>Internationally acclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin speaks at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center as he is introduced as the Nashville Symphony\u2019s new music director.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/media-video><\/div>\n<p><story-highlights class=\"spacer-small column ten-column no-gutter\" util-module-path=\"elements\/story\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Maestro Leonard Slatkin has won six Grammy Awards after 35 nominations.<\/li>\n<li>Slatkin conducted the Nashvlle Symphony from 2006-2009 before returning in 2025 as music director.<\/li>\n<li>Slatkin joins actor and philanthropist Gary Sinise as the two medal recipients for 2026.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/story-highlights><partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"390\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/entertainment\/music\/2026\/02\/12\/leonard-slatkin-named-music-director-for-three-seasons-with-nashville-symphony\/88586937007\/\">Nashville Symphony Music Director Leonard Slatkin<\/a> has been named one of two 2026 Lincoln Medalists by Ford&#8217;s Theatre Society in Washington D.C. He and fellow medalist, actor and military advocate <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/entertainment\/music\/2024\/07\/03\/nashville-grand-ole-opry-celebrates-30-years-of-forrest-gump\/74279080007\/\">Gary Sinise<\/a>, will be honored at the Ford&#8217;s Theatre Annual Gala Performance on May 31, 2026.<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"600\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\" momentum=\"\"\/>\n<p>The Lincoln Medal recognizes individuals whose body of work, accomplishments and character reflect the enduring legacy and strength of character embodied by President Abraham Lincoln. Past recipients include Gen. Colin Powell, Peyton Manning, George Lucas, Aretha Franklin and Dr. Maya Angelou.<\/p>\n<p>Slatkin, 81, is being honored for his 60-year career dedicated to heralding the sounds of American music. He is widely recognized as a leading advocate for the American music repertoire, something he has spearheaded in Nashville. Slatkin previously worked with the Nashville Symphony from 2006-2009. He returned in 2025 as an artistic advisor before being named music director, replacing <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/entertainment\/music\/2026\/02\/11\/maestro-giancarlo-guerrero-super-bowl-halftime-show-bad-bunny\/88596563007\/\">Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><media-image image-set=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/11\/PNAS\/88626293007-leonard-slatkin-06.JPG bestCrop, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/11\/PNAS\/88626293007-leonard-slatkin-06.JPG?crop=1732,1300,x0,y126 4:3, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/11\/PNAS\/88626293007-leonard-slatkin-06.JPG?crop=1732,2310,x0,y0 3:4, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/02\/11\/PNAS\/88626293007-leonard-slatkin-06.JPG?crop=1732,975,x0,y126 16:9\" image-alt=\"\" credit=\"MARK ZALESKI \/ THE TENNESSEAN\" caption=\"Internationally acclaimed American conductor, composer and author Leonard Slatkin is introduced before speaking during a news conference at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. Slatkin will the new music director for the Nashville Symphony.\" orientation=\"vertical\" class=\"spacer-large\" util-module-path=\"elements\/media\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-link\"><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">More music: <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/entertainment\/music\/2026\/02\/25\/maestro-leonard-slatkin-2026-2027-nashville-symphony-season\/88846455007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Nashville Symphony announces musically diverse 2026-27 season<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<partner-inline util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" class=\"spacer-large\" placement=\"native-article_link\" sizes=\"[[300, 250], [3, 3]]\" min-height=\"250\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p class=\"related-link\"><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">Valentine: <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/entertainment\/music\/2025\/07\/31\/alan-valentine-nashville-symphony-president-ceo-to-retire\/85448381007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Nashville Symphony CEO to retire. What you need to know about Alan Valentine<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When you look at the people who&#8217;ve received one of these awards, you become quite humbled,&#8221; Slatkin said during a phone interview. &#8220;You are almost wondering why you&#8217;re there. It would seem that I&#8217;m the first classical musician that ever got it. \u200aThere is something quite remarkable about being placed with a group like this. It&#8217;s very different than any feeling I&#8217;ve had before.&#8221;<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" fluid=\"\" bottom=\"\" lazy=\"\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"390\" outstream=\"\"\/><partner-inline util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" placement=\"native-article_link\" sizes=\"[[300, 250], [3, 3]]\" min-height=\"250\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p>While preparing his acceptance speech, Slatkin realized how much Abraham Lincoln, who the award is named for, truly loved music.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;\u200aI found myself fascinated with Lincoln and his relationship to the arts because I never really thought about it before,&#8221; Slatkin said. &#8220;He was a vociferous reader. He loved the theater and in particular, opera during his presidency. Not his lifetime, but during his presidency. During those six years, he went to 30 opera performances, which is more than most people go to their lives.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cta-atoms-container-inline util-module-path=\"elements\/cta\" class=\"spacer-large\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Paul R. Tetreault, director of Ford&#8217;s Theatre, said in a press release that together, Slatkin and Sinise &#8220;embody a commitment to excellence, compassion and civic responsibility that reflects the very best of the American spirit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><media-image image-set=\"bestCrop, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/22d919962649fc16286cf5b7b391ca4a938458f4\/c=231-0-1972-1309\/local\/-\/media\/2015\/07\/14\/Nashville\/Nashville\/635724768671272468-080704.jpg 4:3, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/39271402d52481fffe8075d6638f3c8955f50d4d\/c=696-0-1678-1309\/local\/-\/media\/2015\/07\/14\/Nashville\/Nashville\/635724768671272468-080704.jpg 3:4, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/d7941a10170da7102c52012ba56060841068fdfb\/c=0-80-1996-1208\/local\/-\/media\/2015\/07\/14\/Nashville\/Nashville\/635724768671272468-080704.jpg 16:9\" image-alt=\"Leonard Slatkin, center, conducts the Nashville Symphony Orchestra as the General Jackson rolls down the Cumberland River during the Fourth of July celebration at Nashville Riverfront Park July 4, 2008.\" credit=\"Jeanne Reasonover \/ The Tennessean\" caption=\"Leonard Slatkin, center, conducts the Nashville Symphony Orchestra as the General Jackson rolls down the Cumberland River during the Fourth of July celebration at Nashville Riverfront Park July 4, 2008.\" orientation=\"horizontal\" class=\"spacer-large\" util-module-path=\"elements\/media\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2 wp-block-heading\">Slatkin set to pay it forward while in D.C.<\/h2>\n<p>\u200aSlatkin&#8217;s efforts to preserve American music and orchestras will be on display during his upcoming visit to Washington D.C. to receive this award. The medal presentation is set to happen in May, about a month before the Kennedy Center will be shut down for two years for a $250 million renovation.<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" fluid=\"\" bottom=\"\" lazy=\"\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"600\" outstream=\"\" momentum=\"\"\/>\n<p>Slatkin said he hopes to go a day early and visit the Kennedy Center, along with the musicians who play there, because he doesn&#8217;t know when the building will reopen. There&#8217;s been considerable controversy regarding President Donald Trump&#8217;s move to add the Trump name to the building, in addition to the way the president is directing other updates and renovations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My former orchestra in Washington will be rehearsing and I&#8217;m hopeful that I can go in and perhaps say a few words of encouragement to this group because they&#8217;re going to be certainly homeless for two years and they don&#8217;t know exactly what&#8217;s going to happen,&#8221; Slatkin said. &#8220;They don&#8217;t even know if there&#8217;s going to be an orchestra. Perhaps I can put into play what this award is all about.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><media-image image-set=\"bestCrop, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/93500e36ec77287f5913def1247312235e890a01\/c=356-0-5463-3840\/local\/-\/media\/2017\/07\/06\/DetroitFreeP\/DetroitFreePress\/636349634481010580-DSO-050613-004-rb.jpg 4:3, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/8d8e56c225bf69febaf2a474981c02d408c8bdcf\/c=862-0-3742-3840\/local\/-\/media\/2017\/07\/06\/DetroitFreeP\/DetroitFreePress\/636349634481010580-DSO-050613-004-rb.jpg 3:4, https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/36ed32cd04b67278183054c69f2a1fed96ffdd46\/c=0-545-5753-3795\/local\/-\/media\/2017\/07\/06\/DetroitFreeP\/DetroitFreePress\/636349634481010580-DSO-050613-004-rb.jpg 16:9\" image-alt=\"The Detroit Symphony Orchestra led by Leonard Slatkin rehearses in preparation for their first trip to Carnegie Hall in 17 years on Monday, May 6, 2013 at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit.&#13;Romain Blanquart\/ Detroit Free Press\" credit=\"Romain Blanquart, Romain Blanquart\/ Detroit Free P\" caption=\"The Detroit Symphony Orchestra led by Leonard Slatkin rehearses in preparation for their first trip to Carnegie Hall in 17 years on Monday, May 6, 2013 at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit.&#13;Romain Blanquart\/ Detroit Free Press\" orientation=\"horizontal\" class=\"spacer-large\" util-module-path=\"elements\/media\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"presto-h2 wp-block-heading\">Grammy winner Slatkin&#8217;s influence on modern classical music<\/h2>\n<p>During his six-decade career, Slatkin has been music director laureate of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, directeur musical honoraire of the Orchestre National de Lyon, conductor laureate of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Orquesta Filarm\u00f3nica de Gran Canaria and artistic consultant to the Las Vegas Philharmonic. He maintains a rigorous schedule of guest conducting and is active as a composer, author and educator.<\/p>\n<partner-inline util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" class=\"spacer-large\" placement=\"native-article_link\" sizes=\"[[300, 250], [3, 3]]\" min-height=\"250\" fluid=\"\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p>A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and a six-time Grammy Award winner (with 25 nominations), Slatkin also holds the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor among many other accolades. Students around the world reference his textbooks when learning about classical music, including &#8220;Eight Symphonic Masterworks of the Twentieth Century: A Study Guide for Conductors&#8221; and &#8220;Classical Crossroads: The Path Forward for Music in the 21st Century.&#8221; And his work with musicians in Nashville, in particular, has made Music City one of the best places in the country for instrumentalists to perfect their craft.<\/p>\n<partner-banner util-module-path=\"elements\/partner\" fluid=\"\" bottom=\"\" lazy=\"\" class=\"spacer-large\" min-height=\"390\" outstream=\"\"\/>\n<p>&#8220;\u200aI guess, at this age, people sometimes ask, &#8216;What&#8217;s your legacy?&#8217; I don&#8217;t really think about it but all of a sudden something like this comes up and you start to become aware that maybe you did leave something of value. Maybe you&#8217;ve worked hard without consciously thinking about anything other than it was what you needed to do and what you wanted to do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK \u2014\u00a0Tennessee. Reach Melonee at\u00a0<\/em><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"mailto:mhurt@tennessean.com\"><em>mhurt@tennessean.com<\/em><\/a><em> or on Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.<\/em><\/p>\n<lit-timestamp class=\"column ten-column no-gutter spacer-small\" slot=\"timestamp\" publishdate=\"2026-04-06 10:05:00.371683287 +0000 UTC\" updatedate=\"2026-04-06 10:05:00.371683287 +0000 UTC\"\/><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.tennessean.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maestro Leonard Slatkin is set to be awarded Ford&#8217;s Theatre&#8217;s Lincoln Medal for reflecting the character of President Abraham Lincoln. Leonard Slatkin announced as Nashville Symphony Music Director Internationally acclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin speaks at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center as he is introduced as the Nashville Symphony\u2019s new music director. Maestro Leonard Slatkin has won [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2360761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[367545,414726,39915,22220,21751,239390,353270,22219,22005,239661,23849,22846,305457,22389,6297,21741,22783,351330,347599,22270,403532,21739,298114,418084,340830,21800,21738,239343,239347,340829,310558,23759,27784,86850,24638,239344],"class_list":["post-2360760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-abraham","tag-abraham-lincoln","tag-affiliate","tag-arts","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrities-u0026-entertainment-news","tag-classical","tag-classical-music","tag-concerts","tag-concerts-u0026-music-festivals","tag-country","tag-country-music","tag-donald","tag-donald-trump","tag-eamotion","tag-entertainment","tag-festivals","tag-george","tag-george-lucas","tag-industry","tag-lincoln","tag-local","tag-local-affiliate-arts-u0026-entertainment","tag-lucas","tag-manning","tag-music","tag-news","tag-overall","tag-overall-positive","tag-peyton","tag-peyton-manning","tag-positive","tag-recording","tag-recording-industry","tag-trump","tag-u0026"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Nashville-Symphony-Music-Director-honored-with-Lincoln-Medal-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2360760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2360762,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2360760\/revisions\/2360762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2360761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2360760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2360760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2360760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}