Michael Tilson Thomas

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Michael Tilson Thomas (b. December 21, 1944), aka MTT, is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is currently music director of the San Francisco Symphony.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Family and education

Thomas was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Broadway stage manager Ted Thomas, and the grandson of noted Yiddish theater stars Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky. His mother, Roberta Thomas, was a middle school history teacher.

Thomas studied at the University of Southern California under Ingolf Dahl, among others. As a student of Friedlinde Wagner, Thomas was a Musical Assistant and Assistant Conductor at the Bayreuth Festival.

Thomas is openly gay[1] and lives with his partner of 30 years, Joshua Robison.[2][3]

[edit] Professional career

In 1969 Thomas made his conducting debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, replacing an unwell William Steinberg in mid-concert. He stayed with the Boston ensemble as an assistant conductor until 1974 and made several recordings with the orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon (which have been reissued on CD). He was music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra from 1971 to 1979. He made recordings for Columbia Records in Buffalo.[4] During much of the time from 1971 to 1977, he also conducted the series of Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic. From 1981 to 1985 he was principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Thomas founded the New World Symphony in Miami, Florida in 1987, a premier orchestral academy for gifted young musicians whose stated mission is “...to prepare highly-gifted graduates of distinguished music programs for leadership roles in orchestras and ensembles around the world.”[5] Thomas remains involved, currently serving as the academy's artistic director. From 1988 to 1995 he was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, becoming principal guest conductor thereafter. In 1995 he became music director of the San Francisco Symphony.

Thomas has conducted a wide variety of music, and is a particular champion of modern American works, recording the complete symphonies of Charles Ives and the premiere recording of Steve Reich's The Desert Music (1984). Reich's composition The Four Sections (1987), was actually commissioned for the San Francisco Symphony and dedicated to Thomas.[6][7] The piece premiered with Thomas in San Francisco and was later recorded for Nonesuch with the London Symphony Orchestra. He is also renowned for his interpretation of the works of Gustav Mahler, and since the death of Leonard Bernstein he is considered the world's premier interpreter of the works of Aaron Copland. Thomas has also recorded the cycle of Nine Symphonies of Gustav Mahler (except for Symphony Number 8) with the San Francisco Symphony. These recordings have been released on the high resolution audio format, Super Audio CD on the San Francisco Symphonies own recording label.

A sampling of Thomas's own compositions include From the Diary of Anne Frank (1990),[8] Shówa/Shoáh (1995),[9] memorializing the fiftieth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima; Poems of Emily Dickinson (2002);[10] and Urban Legend (2002).[11]

Thomas's 1976 recording of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Columbia Jazz Band featured not only the original 1924 jazz band arrangement (as opposed to the more popular symphony orchestra arrangement, written in 1942), but also the piano part "played" by the late composer, via a piano roll Gershwin himself made in 1925.

Thomas hosts the Keeping Score television series, three one-hour documentary-style episodes and two live-concert programs which began airing nationally on PBS stations in early November 2006. They have been compared to Leonard Bernstein’s Young People's Concerts which aired in the 1960s.[12]

In April 2005 he conducted the Carnegie Hall premiere of Remembrances of Thomashefsky's Yiddish Theater.[13]

[edit] Quotations

Responding to an interviewer's question about favorite composers:

“ You can't have Bach, Mozart and
Beethoven as your favorite composers:
They simply define what music is!		 ”

[edit] Awards

Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance

Grammy Award for Best Classical Album

Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Morley Safer. The Passion of Michael Tilson Thomas. 60 Minutes. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
  2. ^ James R. Oestreich. Michael Tilson Thomas: Maverick in a City of Same. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
  3. ^ Thomas Gets Poetic Pondering the Big 6-0. SFGate.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
  4. ^ Michael Tilson Thomas: BPO Music Director, 1971-79. Music Department, University at Buffalo. Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
  5. ^ "New World Symphony Statement of Purpose", New World Symphony. Retrieved on 2006-12-27. 
  6. ^ John Rockwell. "Concert: Philharmonic Plays Reich", New York Times, 1988-1-16. Retrieved on 2007-01-30. 
  7. ^ James M. Keller. Program Notes. San Francisco Symphony. Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
  8. ^ Michael Tilson Thomas: From the Diary of Anne Frank. G. Schirmer, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
  9. ^ Michael Tilson Thomas: Shówa/Shoáh. G. Schirmer, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
  10. ^ Michael Tilson Thomas: Poems of Emily Dickinson. G. Schirmer, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
  11. ^ Michael Tilson Thomas: Urban Legend. G. Schirmer, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
  12. ^ Anthony Tomassini. "Updating ‘Uncle Lenny’ for a Multitasking Age", The New York Times, 2006-11-03. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.  (New York Times subscription required)
  13. ^ Jeff Lunden. "Project Recalls Yiddish Theater Legends", National Public Radio, 2004-04-15. Retrieved on 2006-12-26. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
London Symphony Orchestra Principal Conductors

Hans Richter (1904) · Edward Elgar (1911) · Arthur Nikisch (1912) · Thomas Beecham (1915) · Albert Coates (1919) · Willem Mengelberg (1930) · Hamilton Harty (1932) · Josef Krips (1951) · Pierre Monteux (1960) · István Kertész (1965) · André Previn (1968) · Claudio Abbado (1979) · Michael Tilson Thomas (1987) · Colin Davis (1995) · Valery Gergiev (2007)
v • d • e
San Francisco Symphony Music Directors

Henry Hadley (1911) · Alfred Hertz (1915) · Basil Cameron / Issay Dobrowen (1930) · Pierre Monteux (1935) · Enrique Jordá (1954) · Josef Krips (1963) · Seiji Ozawa (1970) · Edo de Waart (1977) · Herbert Blomstedt (1985) · Michael Tilson Thomas (1995)