National Symphony to lose Slatkin in ’08

Leonard Slatkin, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra since 1996, will step down from his position at the end of the 2007-08 season, the orchestra announced this week.

At the same time, the conductor has agreed to extend his present contract, which was set to expire in 2006, for two additional years.

“I always considered the NSO’s 75th anniversary season of 2005-2006 as a landmark year for the orchestra and for me,” Slatkin, who turned 60 in September, said in a statement. “I was persuaded to remain two further seasons to ensure a proper transition to new musical leadership. At that time I will have held this position for more than a decade, and I view this change as a natural evolution in the career of an orchestra conductor.

“The goals which I set when I began my tenure here will have been accomplished,” Slatkin continued. “In my opinion, the NSO now ranks amongst the world’s great orchestras -- a point of immense pride for me and all the members of the orchestra. I am deeply grateful to the musicians, audience, board and staff who have been supportive of my work here. I look forward to the next 3 1/2 years of making wonderful music with the NSO.”

He made no further comment, and a spokeswoman for the NSO said that he would not be available for interviews right away.

The move was neither widely anticipated nor especially surprising, but the final decision seems to have been made only in the past few days.

Slatkin, who was born in Los Angeles and whose parents were founding members of the Hollywood String Quartet, came to the NSO as music director designate in 1994 and became music director in 1996. During his tenure, he has been responsible for commissioning 64 new works from 53 American composers for the orchestra.

He is also the founder of the National Conducting Institute, which helps prepare young professional conductors to meet all of the responsibilities of a contemporary music director.

Michael Kaiser, the president of the Kennedy Center, released a statement calling Slatkin “an exemplary music director and an important member of the Kennedy Center family.” The orchestra will form a search committee to begin the process of finding Slatkin’s replacement.

It is unclear where Slatkin might go from Washington. A number of leading American orchestras -- including those in Boston, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Francisco and Cleveland, as well as the L.A. Philharmonic -- have relatively youthful music directors, some of them appointed quite recently, who are expected to remain in their positions for some years to come. Slatkin is not considered a contender for upcoming vacancies in Chicago or Pittsburgh.

He remains a regular guest conductor, however, with the New York Philharmonic, which has been led since 2002 by Lorin Maazel, now 74. In the early 1990s, Slatkin was widely favored by some influential members of the Philharmonic board to succeed Zubin Mehta; Kurt Masur won the position instead.

There is currently no favored candidate to replace Slatkin at the NSO.