Michael Tilson Thomas, longtime director of San Francisco Symphony, dies at 81

SAN FRANCISCO — Michael Tilson Thomas, a conductor, composer and pianist who led the San Francisco Symphony as its music director for 25 years, died on Wednesday, his publicist said. He was 81.

Thomas died at his home in San Francisco, his publicist, Constance Shuman, said in a statement. The cause was glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, she said.

Thomas announced in the summer of 2021 that he underwent surgery for a brain tumor, The New York Times reported. In March 2022, he specified that the diagnosis was glioblastoma.

Thomas was forced to cancel several performances for more than three years, but rallied to conduct concerts in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and New York, according to the newspaper.

He announced that his tumor had returned in February 2025, and two months later he conducted his final performance in his hometown.

Thomas established himself as one of the preeminent figures in late 20th- and early 21st-century classical music, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

He was an early champion of the music of Charles Ives, Carl Ruggles and Henry Cowell, according to the newspaper. He also pushed contemporary music from Steve Reich and John Cage in the 1970s, and more recently to Steve Mackey and Mason Bates, the Chronicle reported.

“I’m happiest when I feel the music gets to a place where no one is really quite sure who is making the music,” Thomas told the Chronicle in 2020. “It just seems to be happening wonderfully, miraculously, rather than as a result of someone who’s saying, ‘Follow me.’”

Thomas received 39 Grammy Award nominations and won 12 times, according to The Associated Press. He was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient in 2019.

His relationship with the San Francisco Symphony began in 1974, when he made his debut conducting Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, the Chronicle reported. In September 2024 he came full circle, opening the New York Philharmonic’s season with that composition, according to the Times.

Thomas was born on Dec. 21, 1944, in Los Angeles. He graduated in 1967 from the University of Southern California and won a conducting fellowship at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony.

In 1969, the 24-year-old was appointed assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony. Thomas became the associate conductor in Boston in 1970, and then moved to upstate New York the following year to begin an eight-year run as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Chronicle reported.

“Michael Tilson Thomas was a visionary leader in San Francisco’s music and arts community and helped shape our entire city’s cultural identity,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement. “In his time leading the San Francisco Symphony, Michael elevated the city’s music scene onto the global stage through innovative performances and a passion for bringing music to more people.

“His legacy will live on for generations to come.”

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