{"id":627282,"date":"2026-04-24T06:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T06:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/627282\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T06:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T06:10:09","slug":"conductor-composer-and-pianist-michael-tilson-thomas-known-for-work-with-san-francisco-symphony-dies-aged-81","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/627282\/","title":{"rendered":"Conductor, composer and pianist Michael Tilson Thomas, known for work with San Francisco Symphony, dies aged 81"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celebrated conductor, pianist and composer Michael Tilson Thomas has died aged 81.<\/p>\n

Tilson Thomas was the music director of the San Francisco Symphony for 25 years, and also co-founded the New World Symphony, an orchestral academy in Florida.<\/p>\n

A 12-time Grammy winner and one of the leading orchestral music figures of his generation, Tilson Thomas died at his San Francisco home on Wednesday, surrounded by family and friends, according to a statement from the San Francisco Symphony.<\/p>\n

Known as a fearless innovator, Tilson Thomas was named a Kennedy Center honoree in 2019<\/a>, the highest US award for achievement in the arts.<\/p>\n

He underwent surgery in 2021 for a brain tumour, later diagnosed as a glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of cancer.<\/p>\n

But he conducted a number of concerts during his illness, making his final public appearance in April 2025 to lead the San Francisco Symphony for a belated celebration of his 80th birthday.<\/p>\n

A ‘creative risk-taker’ with modern tastes<\/p>\n

Tilson Thomas was also the co-founder and artistic director laureate of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, an orchestral academy that has gone on to become a major incubator for classical music talent.<\/p>\n

In a tribute to Tilson Thomas \u2014 widely known by his initials MTT \u2014 the New World Symphony called him a “creative risk-taker” whose “fearless explorations provided context that brought relevance, intimacy and urgency to our relationship with music”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tilson Thomas was known for programming music by classical greats alongside contemporary work.\u00a0 (Supplied: Vahan Stepanyan)<\/p>\n

His musical focus as a conductor spanned a wide range of composers, from time-honoured names such as Beethoven, Debussy, Stravinsky, Copland and Mahler \u2014 a special favourite \u2014 to more contemporary composers such as John Cage, Steve Reich and Mason Bates.<\/p>\n

Tilson Thomas also collaborated with members of the psychedelic rock band Grateful Dead<\/a> to perform music composed by Cage in his inaugural 1995-96 season with the San Francisco Symphony.<\/p>\n

Mentored and befriended by Bernstein<\/p>\n

Born in Los Angeles to a Broadway stage manager and a high school history teacher, Tilson Thomas studied piano from a young age.<\/p>\n

He earned a conducting fellowship at Tanglewood Music Festival after graduating from the University of Southern California in 1967.<\/p>\n

Around that time he also made the acquaintance of legendary musician Leonard Bernstein, who became a lifelong friend, mentor and role model, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.<\/p>\n

Throughout his career, Tilson Thomas conducted several major symphony orchestras in the US and Europe, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n

He stepped down as music director of the San Francisco Symphony in 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but remained close to the orchestra as its music director laureate until his death.<\/p>\n

A statement posted on Thomas’s Instagram<\/a> said he was “preceded in death by his husband, Joshua Robison”.<\/p>\n

The couple are survived by a number of sisters, nieces and nephews.<\/p>\n

Reuters<\/p>\n

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