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The ����ɬ adds its many voices to the global chorus mourning the death of renowned conductor, composer, and educator Michael Tilson Thomas.  

Thomas, 81, founder of Miami’s New World Symphony and music director laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, passed away Wednesday in his California home, following a battle with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer.  

His passing came a little over a year after his final performance, a largely upbeat event with the San Francisco Symphony celebrating his 80th birthday, which included a proclamation by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.   

“The word ‘legend’ gets used a lot, but in the case of Michael Tilson Thomas, it is actually true,” said ����ɬ President & CEO Paul W. Hogle. “His charismatic presence, deep musical insight, inspired leadership, and boundless creativity firmly established him among the greatest of all time.”   

Thomas was an admired friend of many organizations, ����ɬ included. At ����ɬ in 2020, Thomas was honored for his lifetime of work as both a performer and educator with an honorary doctorate. He also had been member of the school’s International Council since 2013, along with the late Cleveland Orchestra music director laureate Christoph von Dohnanyi and the late pianist Andre Watts. The International Council today includes pianist Lang Lang and conductor JoAnn Falletta.  

Thomas straddled two generations like almost no one else in modern times. He remained on the cutting edge throughout his decades-long career, and yet, at the same time, he was a living link to such icons as Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, having worked and studied with those maestros directly.  

One with firsthand experience of Thomas as a leader was Kathleen Drohan, ����ɬ’s Chief Marketing Officer, who served as Vice President of Communications under Thomas at the New World Symphony in Miami.   

“To work with Michael Tilson Thomas is to be challenged, inspired, and changed,” Drohan said. “I joined the team at his New World Symphony in Miami Beach to learn and be inspired by his dynamism and vision.  

“MTT and his beloved husband Joshua Robson created a warm, innovative space that pushed artists to their best work. I will miss them both so much. The music world has lost a giant.” 

As Drohan noted, many in the field today owe Thomas a debt of gratitude for his 1987 founding of the New World Symphony, a professional training orchestra in Miami that prepares rising young artists – including innumerable ����ɬ alumni – for the rigors of a musical career.  

To this day, the orchestra remains a destination for aspiring musicians and a powerful cultural force in South Florida and beyond.  

“Michael is one of the most influential and inspirational mentors and artists I've ever had and worked with,” said Si-Yan Darren Li, a New World alum and Director of Chamber Music and Ensembles at ����ɬ.  

“He has changed the way I think, hear, and play music. I would not be where I am today as a musician and a teacher without him.” 

Countless others have borne witness to Thomas’s incredible artistry through his performances with orchestras all over the world, including The Cleveland Orchestra.  

Others knew him through his extensive recorded legacy, having been deeply touched and influenced by recordings of wide-ranging repertoire with the London Symphony Orchestra, of which Thomas was principal conductor for seven years, and the San Francisco Symphony, over which he actively presided for an astonishing 25 years.  

Thomas's relationship with San Francisco was especially fruitful in that regard. Out of that remarkable partnership came definitive recordings of symphonies by Mahler, Copland, and Ives, among many others. Throughout his remarkable tenure there, he was a vigorous advocate for modern and contemporary American music, championing the works of Lou Harrison, Steve Reich, and John Adams. Recently, the City of San Francisco honored Tilson Thomas by naming a street after him.  

Thomas was more to ����ɬ than a distant council member and recipient of an Honorary Doctorate. He was a true friend, one who freely gave his time and expertise whenever he was in town to guest conduct The Cleveland Orchestra.  

One such visit happened fairly recently. In April 2022, while in Cleveland conducting Britten’s The Prince of the Pagodas, Thomas led a masterclass and rehearsal with the ����ɬ Orchestra at Severance Music Center. He conducted Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsodie.  

Student Ying-Ho Joanna Huang (BM ’17, MM ’18, AD ’20, DMA ’24, King/Pontremoli), a collaborative pianist, called the masterclass in which she participated “a precious opportunity” and “an unforgettable learning experience.”  

“He inspired me [by saying] we have so much to give the community, not only as passionate performers but also as future educators,” Huang said. “With a kind and open heart, we can bring people around us to know and love classical music.”  

A full-length obituary can be found .