Published: 09:44 AM, 26 April 2026
Visionary music conductor Michael Tilson Thomas dies at 81
Celebrated conductor, pianist and composer Michael Tilson Thomas, a longtime music director of the San Francisco Symphony known as a creative visionary, has died at age 81 after nearly five years with brain cancer, the orchestra announced on Thursday.
Thomas, a 12-time Grammy winner and one of the leading orchestral music figures of his generation, died at his San Francisco home on Wednesday, surrounded by family and friends, according to a statement the symphony posted on its website and Instagram.
His husband, Joshua Robison, died in February from complications following a fall.
Thomas, feted in 2019 as a Kennedy Center honoree, the highest US award for achievement in the arts, underwent surgery in 2021 for a brain tumor later diagnosed as a glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of cancer.
He rallied despite the grave prognosis to conduct a number of concerts during his illness, making his final public appearance in April 2025 to lead the San Francisco Symphony for a belated celebration of his 80th birthday.
His long association with San Francisco did much to cement its place as a redoubt of the orchestral music scene.
"Michael Tilson Thomas was a visionary leader in San Francisco’s music and arts community and helped shape our entire city’s cultural identity," Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement, saluting him also as one of the world's first openly gay conductors.
In addition to his 25 years as music director for the San Francisco Symphony, Thomas was co-founder and artistic director laureate of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, an orchestral academy that has become a major incubator for classical music talent.
