Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944), is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is currently music director of the San Francisco Symphony.
Tilson Thomas was born in Los Angeles, California to Ted and Roberta Thomas, Broadway stage manager, and a middle school history teacher. He is the grandson of noted Yiddish theater stars Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky. Tilson Thomas studied at the University of Southern California under Ingo...
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Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944), is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is currently music director of the San Francisco Symphony.
Tilson Thomas was born in Los Angeles, California to Ted and Roberta Thomas, Broadway stage manager, and a middle school history teacher. He is the grandson of noted Yiddish theater stars Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky. Tilson Thomas studied at the University of Southern California under Ingolf Dahl, among others. As a student of Friedelind Wagner, Tilson Thomas was a Musical Assistant and Assistant Conductor at the Bayreuth Festival.
In 1969 Tilson 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...
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