In Memoriam: Michael Tilson Thomas

The IMZ mourns the passing of Michael Tilson Thomas, a visionary conductor, composer, pianist, music pedagogue and founder of the New World Symphony.

In the span of his almost 50-year career, he led multiple world-renowned orchestras, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, New World Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, and most notably the San Francisco Symphony.

As music director of the San Francisco Symphony for 25 years, he led more than 1,800 concerts and became part of the very cultural fabric of the city. He also founded the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, devoted to preparing young musicians for orchestral careers.

MTT also leaves behind a remarkable body of audiovisual works. He hosted the Keeping Score television serie, nine one-hour documentary-style episodes and eight live-concert programs, which began airing on PBS in 2006, examining the lives and music of Mahler, Shostakovich, Ives, Berlioz, Copland, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, and Beethoven. He also brought orchestral music to wider audiences through a BBC series with the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts from 1971 to 1977, and twelve productions for PBS's Great Performances. He was also a pioneer in the digital space, collaborating with YouTube in 2009 to help create the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble whose members were selected from 30 countries based on more than 3,000 video auditions.

He received 39 Grammy nominations, winning 12; was honored at the Kennedy Center in 2019; and was the recipient of a Peabody Award as well as the National Medal of Arts.