Michael Tilson Thomas, the celebrated American conductor and composer who led major orchestras in Buffalo, Miami, London and San Francisco, has died aged 81. He passed away at his home in San Francisco on Wednesday, according to spokesperson Connie Shuman, after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Tilson Thomas underwent surgery for a brain tumour in 2021 and had returned to work, but announced in February 2025 that the tumour had recurred. He conducted his final concert with the San Francisco Symphony in April 2025. Over his career he received 39 Grammy nominations and won 12, and was among the Kennedy Center Honors recipients in 2019.
Born in Los Angeles on 21 December 1944 to a family steeped in the arts, he was the grandson of Bessie and Boris Thomashefsky, pioneers of American Yiddish theatre. His father worked in film and television, while his mother headed research at Columbia Pictures. He studied at the University of Southern California, working with notable figures including Pierre Boulez, Aaron Copland and Igor Stravinsky.
His career included serving as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic from 1971 to 1979, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1988 to 1995, and music director of the San Francisco Symphony from 1995 to 2020. He also helped found Miami's New World Symphony in 1987. He made his New York debut in 1969 as a last-minute replacement, earning praise from critic Harold C. Schonberg, and Leonard Bernstein described him as a genius, saying he knew more than Bernstein did at the same age.
Among Tilson Thomas's own compositions were Grace (1988), Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind (2015-16) and Meditations on Rilke (2019). His husband, Joshua Robison, died on 22 February 2025 following a fall. In announcing his final concert, Tilson Thomas reflected on his mortality, saying: 'My life's coda is generous and rich.'
