Slatkin was born in
St. Louis, Missouri to a
Jewish family originally named Zlotkin (though it is not certain) from areas of the
Russian Empire now in
Ukraine. He began studying the violin at the age of nine with Isadore Grossman. He began working professionally at the age of ten and won a scholarship to the
Curtis Institute, where he studied violin with
Efrem Zimbalist and conducting with
Fritz Reiner. At age 17 he joined the
St. Louis Symphony and formed a chamber orchestra of young musicians. In 1935 he won a competition which included a solo appearance with the
Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra and
Jose Iturbi. Around this time he met cellist
Eleanor Aller, also of Russian Jewish extraction, His conducting career included his founding of the Concert Arts Orchestra and appearances with the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra. He was
Frank Sinatra's concertmaster and conductor of choice during the
Capitol years of the 1950s. He made over 25 recordings with these orchestras, also on the Capitol label, including a recording of
Offenbach’s
Gaîté Parisienne (a ballet arranged by
Manuel Rosenthal), which won a Grammy Award in 1958. He also made over a dozen recordings for
Liberty Records establishing “The Fantastic Strings, Fantastic Fiddles, Fantastic Percussion, and Fantastic Brass of Felix Slatkin.” In 1962, his recording entitled
Hoedown won a Grammy nomination. In 1995, the Hollywood Quartet won the London Grammaphone award for their recording of
Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht and
Schubert’s
Quintet in C Major. Felix Slatkin died from a
heart attack at the age of 47. ==Family==