Michael Tilson Thomas has died at the age of 81.

The conductor died at home on April 22, 2026 surrounded by family and friends. In 2021, he was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme, an aggressive type of brain cancer. Through his illness he continued to make music. He was preceded in death by his husband Joshua Robison.

Born in Los Angeles in 1944, Tilson Thomas studied conducting and composition at the University of Southern California and, as a young musician, worked with artists including Igor Stravinsky and Aaron Copland.

He became Assistant Conductor and later Principal Guest Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in his mid 20s and afterward served as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.

In 1987, he co-founded the New World Symphony, a postgraduate orchestral academy in Miami Beach dedicated to preparing young musicians of diverse backgrounds for leadership roles in classical music.

In 1995 he was named Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, leading to a period of significant growth and heightened international recognition for the orchestra. He would become the Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra, and Co-Founder, Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony and Distinguished Professor of Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Tilson Thomas left a huge legacy of recordings with over 120 and several television specials, including series for the BBC and PBS, the New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts, and numerous televised performances. He went on to win 12 Grammy Awards. In addition to conducting, he was composed several works including “From the Diary of Anne Frank.”

For his achievements in music he was named Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France, member of the American Academies of Arts & Sciences and Arts & Letters, National Medal of Arts recipient, and a 2019 Kennedy Center Honoree.