As befitting one of the superstars of the classical music world, the public memorial for Michael Tilson Thomas offers a program filled with illustrious friends and close collaborators alongside the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Symphony Chorus.
Conductors Teddy Abrams and Edwin Outwater, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, vocalist Audra McDonald and pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Yuja Wang are performing in San Francisco Symphony’s “A Concert for MTT” set for Oct. 2 at Davies Symphony Hall. Additional performers will be announced as they are confirmed.
Donors and subscribers can buy tickets beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 2, with general sale opening at 10 a.m. July 18 at www.sfsymphony.org.
The evening, whose lineup was unveiled Wednesday, July 1, mixes personal tributes and anecdotes, archival footage and recordings and performances of iconic repertoire.
After Thomas died in April at age 81 from glioblastoma, stars and collaborators ranging from operatic soprano Renee Fleming to the San Francisco band Metallica offered tributes.
More Information
“A Concert for MTT”: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2. Tickets start at $89. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-864-6000. www.sfsymphony.org
The Symphony also announced that in honor of Thomas’ half-century relationship with the orchestra, the Board of Governors established the Michael Tilson Thomas Legacy Fund, noting that the fund is restricted to general orchestra support, including orchestra compensation and other items that fall under the annual orchestra budget.
“Michael didn’t just lead this orchestra. He reimagined what an orchestra could be, and he did it here, with these musicians, for this city,” Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey said in a statement. “Working alongside him shaped how all of us understand our purpose.”
San Francisco Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey speaks during an event announcing Elim Chan as the orchestra’s next music director at San Francisco City Hall on May 21, 2026. (Jana Ašenbrennerová/For the S.F. Chronicle)
Spivey called Thomas’ death “deeply felt. … His influence is woven into the San Francisco Symphony at every level, and it will be for generations.”
Thomas first conducted the orchestra in 1974, taking his final bow with it, and from performing altogether, at his 80th birthday concert in April 2025. He was music director from 1995 to 2020.
Thomas reached heights few other classical musicians did in his more than five-decade career. Like his mentor Leonard Bernstein, he went beyond conducting and composing to include television appearances and major collaborations beyond the world of symphonic music. A Kennedy Center Honoree and 12-time Grammy Award winner, Thomas conducted many of the major orchestras of Europe and the United States.
Prior to his 25 years in San Francisco, he was the assistant conductor and later principal guest conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He subsequently served as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, as principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1987, with philanthropists Ted and Lin Arison, he co-founded the New World Symphony, a postgraduate orchestral academy in Miami Beach.
His years at the San Francisco Symphony were transformative for the orchestra, with Thomas and his husband and manager Joshua Robison a power couple both in the entertainment industry and the city. Robison died in February while recovering from a fall. He was 79.
Symphony Board of Governors Chair Priscilla Geeslin told the Chronicle that Thomas’ legacy “will endure through our incredible musicians.”
“With the MTT Legacy Fund,” she added, “we wanted to create an opportunity, in Michael’s name, for our community to come together and support the Orchestra that Michael helped build.”
Joshua Robison in the home he shared with husband Michael Tilson Thomas in San Francisco on Aug. 20, 2019. Robison was Tilson Thomas’ manager and a force behind the scenes in MTT’s career at the Symphony. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F Chronicle)
While at the Symphony, Thomas oversaw the launch of the Symphony’s own Grammy-winning recording label SFS Media; introduced the arts education program Keeping Score; and, in 2000, founded the American Mavericks festival to champion contemporary and 20th century American composers. With tours of Europe and Asia, he brought the Symphony to greater international acclaim.
Among the city’s tributes to Thomas were the renaming of the block of Grove Street in front of Davies Symphony Hall “MTT Way” in 2023.
Subscribe
There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at Exclusive: San Francisco Symphony announces Michael Tilson Thomas memorial concert.