Michael Tilson Thomas Dies At 81

[Pauly 4001]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/arts/music/michael-tilson-thomas-dead.html

A legendary American conductor died today.
RIP Michael Tilson Thomas

 

[pfschim]

yes, saw that sad news. Besides having several family members who are symphonic players who all talk about celebrity conductors, my first introduction to MTT was his work with the London Symphony Orchestra on Mahavishnu Orchestra's Apocalypse album in the 70s, and then some collabs with John McLaughlin after Mahavishnu. I am also an SF Bay Area guy and MTT was the conductor of the SF Symphony until quite recently.

Great stuff, sorry to hear of his passing.

 

[MonetBass]

A friend who plays with the Baltimore Symphony posted this yesterday. While I wasn't familiar with him, after reading his bio it was clear he was a well-respected conductor.

 

[jim nolte]

yes, saw that sad news. Besides having several family members who are symphonic players who all talk about celebrity conductors, my first introduction to MTT was his work with the London Symphony Orchestra on Mahavishnu Orchestra's Apocalypse album in the 70s, and then some collabs with John McLaughlin after Mahavishnu. I am also an SF Bay Area guy and MTT was the conductor of the SF Symphony until quite recently.

Great stuff, sorry to hear of his passing.

Same here, first heard of his work with John McLaughlin in the mid ‘70 s at the same time I was getting into the “ fusion “ scene so he immediately got on my radar, I think he was also conducting orchestras in the Santa Cruz area but I might be wrong on that , man does time go by fast I still remember him as this young conductor who was expanding the boundaries of orchestral music.

 

[Bob_Ross]

crap...

 

[ATLbassist]

I always liked his story about leading a group through an early performance of Steve Reich's "Four Organs:"

 

[Snibborwocky]

I had SF Symphony season tickets many decades ago and got to see him conduct some of the most famous compositions in music history which was really a great experience every time I went. Although he was very serious on stage while preforming, he occasionally would start the program with a quick story or background tidbit about the composer or piece being performed and did in fact have a good sense of humor with some of them. I'm just very thankful I got to experience his tenure at the SFS when I did. He really did help take that symphony to a higher level of music creativity as well as thinking outside the box from some of the normal compositions most might associate "classical music" to be. RIP MTT...