American conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who was born in 1944 in Los Angeles, studied piano, composition, and conducting at the University of South California. At the age of 19 he took over leadership of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra and in this context collaborated with such composers as Stravinsky, Boulez, Stockhausen, and Copland, who presented their new works at the famous Monday Evening Concerts. During this same period he served as the pianist for master classes by Gregor Piatigorsky and Jascha Heifetz. After winning the Koussevitzky Prize in 1969, Tilson Thomas made his debut conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. From 1971 to 1979 he helmed the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra, from 1981 to 1985 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and in 1986 he began a nine-year tenure as Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra. Since 1995 Michael Tilson Thomas has been Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, with whom he has released a highly acclaimed series of recordings; his Mahler interpretations alone have won four Grammy Awards. Tilson Thomas is passionately engaged in his work involving musical education and youth outreach: between 1971 and 1977, through his televised Young People’s Concerts with the New York Philharmonic, he followed in the footsteps of Leonard Bernstein, his long-time mentor. In February 1987 he inaugurated the New World Symphony, a national orchestra for the most gifted students from American conservatories. Michael Tilson Thomas is moreover a successful composer, with such works as From the Diary of Anne Frank or Shówa / Shoáh, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Tilson Thomas, who has garnered a diverse array of awards, was honored by Barack Obama in 2009 with the National Medal of Arts.
LUCERNE FESTIVAL (IMF) debut on April 19, 1992 with the London Symphony Orchestra in works by Britten, Berlioz, and Brahms.
July 2010