“Life is precious,” wrote Michael Tilson Thomas, 80, in his announcement on Monday, Feb. 24, that he plans to conclude his conducting career, which began some seven decades ago at Walter Reed Junior High School in the San Fernando Valley, after two final engagements this season.
“Three years ago, I wrote to tell you that I’m battling Glioblastoma. The three and a half years since the initial diagnosis have been a special time in my life, filled with friends, family, and music. They have also been challenging as I had to undergo a second operation and manage complications from the treatments that have held the tumor at bay,” MTT wrote.
Tilson Thomas revealed that his doctors at the UCSF Brain Tumor Center recently told him that his tumor has returned. “There are treatment options, but the odds are uncertain,” the conductor wrote.
The remaining engagements will be with organizations deeply meaningful to MTT: “In March, I have concerts planned with the New World Symphony and, on April 26, the San Francisco Symphony is celebrating my 80th birthday. At that point, we all get to say the old show business expression, ‘It’s a wrap.’”
MTT co-founded the New World Symphony in Miami in 1987, and he was music director of the SF Symphony from 1995 until 2020, assuming the position of music director laureate thereafter. He first conducted the SF Symphony in 1974, when he was 29 years old.
SF Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey responded to the news in a statement to SF Classical Voice:
“From moments in the car reviewing markings in his score of the Schumann Fourth Symphony to exploring the works of Lou Harrison together in preparation for a SoundBox program, Michael has shaped my perspective of both music and humanity.
“But more importantly, he has made a truly indelible mark on our orchestra, the city of San Francisco, and the entire music world, and we’re all looking forward to celebrating and honoring his remarkable contributions and impact.”
Priscilla B. Geeslin, president of the SF Symphony’s board of governors, said:
“Michael Tilson Thomas has been the beating heart of the San Francisco Symphony for over 25 years, shaping its sound, spirit, and stature on the world stage. His vision and boundless creativity have transformed not just the orchestra but the cultural landscape of San Francisco itself, making our city a beacon for musical excellence.”
During what MTT described as those “challenging” years after going public with his diagnosis, the conductor continued to work, leading such prominent engagements as the New York Philharmonic’s season-opening concerts last September featuring Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. He then led the London Symphony Orchestra, where he is conductor laureate, in performances of the same composer’s Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”) in October.
Among upcoming cancellations that MTT has now made this season are concerts with The Philadelphia Orchestra that were scheduled for early March.
“[My husband] Joshua [Robison] and I are in San Francisco with the pups, and we take occasional jaunts to Bolinas. Our home is filled with memories of a full life,” MTT wrote.
SFCV writer Lisa Hirsch responded to the announcement:
“I first heard about MTT back in the 1970s, when he was a little bit of a bad boy but also a very good conductor. I can’t remember how or why I knew that he was gay; he didn’t make much of a secret of it. It was a huge thrill when SFS hired him as music director — tip of the hat to [then-executive director] Peter Pastreich. MTT’s tenure here was transformative in so many ways.
“His last few concerts with SFS featured a warm and generous outpouring of love, honoring the man and his centrality to the musical life of San Francisco, the Bay Area, California, and, of course, the orchestra.”
SF Symphony Chorus member Susan Nace told SFCV:
“MTT is always teaching, always illuminating, always taking music to its most sublime expression. My scores are filled with remarks he made in rehearsal. I cherish the times I’ve made music with the SF Symphony and Chorus under the maestro’s direction.”
A longtime MTT collaborator and former SFS artistic administrator, Jim Utz, told SFCV:
“Michael saw talents in me that others did not and helped me to bloom in my 20 years at the Symphony. My experience in opera was put to the test when I served as stage manager for many of the semistaged operas we performed in Davies Symphony Hall. We all came together to make something memorable, and [those productions] are still fondly remembered. I am proud to have been part of his team.”
“A ‘coda’ is a musical element at the end of a composition that brings the whole piece to a conclusion,” MTT wrote in Monday’s announcement. “A coda can vary greatly in length. My life’s coda is generous and rich.”
