About
Internationally renowned conductor, educator, composer and musician Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) co-founded the New World Symphony in 1987 with Ted and Lin Arison. He served as NWS’s Artistic Director until 2022 when he was named Artistic Director Laureate.
“For me, the most profound question is what is left when the music stops, when the curtain falls and the lights go off. What do people take away with them? What did we, as artists, do to make the souls of our audience richer, fuller and more compassionate.”
Michael Tilson Thomas
Co-Founder and Artistic Director Laureate
About
Michael Tilson Thomas was Co-Founder and Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra and Distinguished Professor of Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Born in Los Angeles, he was the third generation of his family to pursue an artistic career. His grandparents, Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, were founding members of the Yiddish Theater in America; his father, Ted Thomas, was a producer at the Mercury Theater Company in New York before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked in film and television; and his mother, Roberta Thomas, was the head of research for Columbia Pictures.
The New World Symphony’s Fellows, alumni, Trustees and staff mourn the loss of our Co-Founder and Artistic Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), who died at home on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 surrounded by family and friends. The world will remember his brilliant mind, limitless imagination and his creative and collaborative spirit. Our NWS community will forever be transformed by the generosity with which he shared these qualities.
In 1987, MTT co-founded the New World Symphony in Miami Beach with Ted and Lin Arison. The New World Symphony is a postgraduate orchestral academy dedicated to preparing young musicians of diverse backgrounds for leadership roles in classical music. It has long been at the forefront of developments in the arts and in education.
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