Los Angeles-born Grammy-winning conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, a former child prodigy who led the San Francisco Symphony for a quarter century, has died at age 81, it was announced Thursday.
Tilson Thomas died Wednesday of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, at his home in San Francisco, according to a representative.
In a statement, San Francisco Symphony Board Chair Priscilla Geeslin said Tilson Thomas “brought brilliance, curiosity, and a singular voice” to the symphony, adding, “We were, quite simply, so lucky to have him.”
He underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2021, followed by months of therapy, and returned to the stage to standing ovations with the New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony.
Last year, Tilson Thomas said the tumor had returned and announced plans to scale back his public appearances.
Despite his illness, he appeared to intensify his schedule, traveling extensively and continuing to conduct.
In 2022, he led performances in cities including Prague, Munich, London, New York, Miami, Cleveland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Tilson Thomas served as music director of the San Francisco Symphony from 1995 to 2020, becoming the orchestra’s longest-serving leader. A 12-time Grammy Award winner, he guided the ensemble to a high level of technical precision and musical excellence.
He was recognized as a 2019 honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors.
Tilson Thomas, known widely as “MTT,” was a gifted musician born in Los Angeles on Dec. 21, 1944, into a theatrical family. His father was a stage manager turned film and TV producer, and his grandparents, Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, were stars of Yiddish theater.
An only child, he began piano at an early age and later took up the oboe. An injury ended his plans for a career as a pianist, but his oboe studies led him to a junior high orchestra, where at 12 he met cellist Joshua Robison, who would become his lifelong partner.
At USC, he studied with composer Ingolf Dahl and turned to conducting, working with Igor Stravinsky and other leading composers. Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein became key mentors after he met Bernstein in his early 20s.
Tilson Thomas’ first major appointment came in 1969 as an assistant conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
In 1971, he became music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, serving until 1979.
After leaving Buffalo, he conducted opera productions in the U.S. and Europe and spent much of the 1980s as a guest conductor, including a stint with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
In 1987, he co-founded the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, a training orchestra for young musicians, and later helped develop its Frank Gehry-designed campus.
He became principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1988 and later served as its conductor laureate.
Tilson Thomas also maintained a long association with the Ojai Music Festival, serving as music director multiple times.
He became music director of the San Francisco Symphony in 1995, having first conducted the orchestra in 1974.
Robison, his husband and manager, died in February at age 79.