A beloved San Francisco icon, Michael Tilson Thomas redefined the San Francisco Symphony during his extraordinary 25-year tenure as Music Director. In a one-of-a-kind event, MTT’s longtime friends and artistic collaborators—join the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus in a concert celebrating his life and legacy. The program features music by composers closely associated with MTT, including Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Charles Ives, and Aaron Copland, alongside world premieres by Mason Bates and MTT himself.

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A Concert for MTT

Davies Symphony Hall

A kaleidoscopic program of 20th-century music by LGBTQ+ composers, conducted by festival founder Oliver Zeffman.

Classical Pride 2026

Barbican Centre

The Metropolis Brass Quintet

The Juilliard School

“With her gorgeous sound—dense, warm, and brilliant—and her immaculate technique, [María] Dueñas is already at the top” (Bachtrack). The Gen-Z violinist makes her highly anticipated return to Walt Disney Concert Hall with Korngold’s mesmerizing and theatrical Violin Concerto.

Dvořák and Korngold

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Kyle Cho, horn

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

We’ll ring in 2026 with a pianist who’s well-admired in both jazz and classical circles. For this all-American program, Aaron Diehl plays a concerto that was written just for him, and Brooklyn-born Aaron Copland quotes cowboy songs to paint a picture of outlaw Billy the Kid. Plus: Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On the Town.

A New Year’s Celebration with the Minnesota Orchestra

Orchestra Hall

Join the San Francisco Symphony in celebrating the 80th birthday of Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas. A leader in the global music landscape and a beloved San Francisco icon, MTT has re-imagined the role of a conductor, showing how it can be done with style, grace, and vigor. In this one-of-a-kind event, MTT conducts Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and Respighi’s Roman Festivals. The program also includes the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and special guest appearances by vocalists Frederica von Stade, Sasha Cooke, Jessica Vosk, and Ben Jones, performing vocal works by MTT and other composers whose music he is closely associated with. Part lively musical journey through cherished memories, part celebration of a singular artist, this promises to be an unforgettable evening.

MTT 80th Birthday Concert

A sudden wave of joy rushes through the hall as Michael Tilson Thomas’ tribute to an avid orchestra supporter opens this passionate concert. Discover why pianist Daniil Trifonov has earned accolades around the globe as he performs a soulful concerto written by a teenaged Sergei Rachmaninoff, who was then just emerging onto the Russian music scene. That young composer was following in the footsteps of another extraordinary musician, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, whose Pathétique Symphony is still considered one of the most profound, intimate, and moving orchestral pieces of all time.

Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky

Powell Hall

The SF Symphony Youth Orchestra opens the season by honoring the legacy of Michael Tilson Thomas—a longtime champion of the SFSYO—with a performance of his playful Agnegram. Kodály’s Dances of Galánta celebrates the vibrant folk traditions of Central Europe, whose melodies and rhythms also left a lasting imprint on Brahms. The program culminates with Brahms’s monumental Symphony No. 4, the product of a lifetime of experience and study.

Michael Tilson Thomas

Events

Upcoming events

6 - 8 Nov, 2026

Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky · St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Nov 22, 2026

Brahms 4 · San Francisco Symphony

Past events

Oct 2, 2026

A Concert for MTT · San Francisco Symphony

Jun 14, 2026

Classical Pride 2026 · London Symphony Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Conductor in Roman Festivals by Respighi

San Francisco Symphony

Conductor in Chansons de Bilitis by Debussy

San Francisco Symphony

Conductor in Chichester Psalms by Bernstein

San Francisco Symphony

Conductor in Guys and Dolls by Loesser

San Francisco Symphony

Conductor in Meditations on Rilke by Thomas

San Francisco Symphony

Conductor in Not Everyone Thinks That I’m Beautiful by Thomas

San Francisco Symphony

Conductor in Drift off to Sleep by Thomas

San Francisco Symphony

Conductor in Answered Prayers by Thomas

San Francisco Symphony

Conductor in Sentimental Again by Thomas

San Francisco Symphony

Conductor in Grace by Thomas

San Francisco Symphony

About

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