He was one of the few, if not the first internationally renowned conductor to make his illness public, the multifaceted glioblastoma that eventually took his life. Michael Tilson Thomas, dubbed MTT by his compatriots, built his career across the Atlantic and notably during 25 years leading the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. A leading conductor less present in Europe, but whose career has had a lasting impact on American musical life, in Boston, Buffalo, Los Angeles, and notably in San Francisco.
Michael Tilson Thomas passed away at his home in San Francisco, reported the New York Times, from a glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer diagnosed in 2022.
A legend in his own country
A true Californian, Michael Tilson Thomas was born in Los Angeles, surrounded by “actors and musicians from show business,” he told Norman Lebrecht in 2024. It was his grandparents, Jewish immigrants from Ukraine and stars of the Yiddish musical theater, who passed on to Michael their love for music. “In our family, there was always someone singing, this environment breathed freedom and spontaneity,” the conductor confided. As a young man, he visited Irving Berlin in a family where Gershwin was often invited to play the piano four hands with his grandmother. In his spare time, Michael Tilson Thomas enjoyed improvising on the piano. But his parents, professionals in cinema and theater, were not very enthusiastic when, at 12, Michael entered the Preparatory School for Young Artists at the University of Southern California. There he studied piano, composition, and conducting, honing his skills with Gregor Piatigorsky and Jascha Heifetz, and premiering works by Stravinsky, Boulez, Stockhausen, and Copland. So it’s no wonder that at 24, after winning the Koussevitzky Prize at Tanglewood, his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra caused a sensation. He was quickly appointed assistant conductor and later principal guest conductor, a position he held until 1974.
In parallel, he took the reins of the Buffalo Philharmonic (from 1971 to 1979), and was later appointed principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (from 1981 to 1985). But his longest love story remains with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, where he was named music director in 1995, after a seven-year stint with the London Symphony Orchestra, and he remained at the helm of the California formation for 25 years, while continuing to conduct top orchestras, especially in the United States. He raised the organization to an international level of renown, with a focus on promoting contemporary American and international composers alongside classics from the great repertoire.
