Michael Tilson Thomas announces his brain cancer has returned
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Celebrated conductor and San Francisco Symphony Music Director Laureate announced he will retire from performing following the return of a brain tumor he's been battling. In a statement posted to his website, Tilson Thomas said he had undergone a second operation to manage complications from treating the tumor.
'Three years ago, I wrote to tell you that I'm battling Glioblastoma,' Tilson Thomas said. 'The three and a half years since the initial diagnosis have been a special time in my life, filled with friends, family and music. They have also been challenging.'
Tilson Thomas' doctors, he went on to say, had informed him that the tumor has returned. While the conductor said he would continue to work with the 'superb group' at the UCSF Brain Tumor Center, he admitted that 'the odds are uncertain.'
Historic SF concert venue completes multi-million-dollar renovation
'Now is the time to wind down my public appearances,' he said. 'During the past year, I had the opportunity to come full circle with musicians and orchestras I hold most dear,' he said. 'My work with the London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic was very special.'
The conductor said he has concerts planned for March with the New World Symphony and then, on April 26, one final concert with the SF Symphony in celebration of his 80th birthday.
'At that point,' he continued, 'we all get to say the old show business expression, 'it's a wrap.''
'A 'coda' is a musical element at the end of a composition that brings the whole piece to a conclusion,' he added. 'A coda can vary greatly in length. My life's coda is generous and rich.'
'Life is precious,' the statement concluded.
Born in Los Angeles, Tilson Thomas was first appointed Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony in 1995.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
a day ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Review: Esa-Pekka Salonen's next-to-last S.F. Symphony concerts promise renewal
Composer Gabriella Smith knows how to make a lasting impression. Her organ concerto ' Breathing Forests ' was a highlight of the San Francisco Symphony's 2023-24 season, a work of tremendous power and originality. Smith is back with a Symphony commission called 'Rewilding,' a paean to birds, insects and the process of returning the Earth to its natural state by undoing human damage and disruption. The 33-year-old Berkeley native has been dedicated to environmental concerns since her high school days, and these issues are major sources of inspiration for her music. 'Rewilding' had its world premiere on Friday, June 6, at Davies Symphony Hall on a program conducted by outgoing Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen. The audience's enthusiasm for Salonen overmatched the poignancy of his impending departure. Before the performance, Smith talked about her work in ecological restoration, most recently on a project to rewild a former military runway in Seattle. She cited the failure of current politicians to address the climate crisis but ended on a message of hope. 'There are people all around (you) who are taking action,' she said Like 'Breathing Forests,' 'Rewilding' is a work of startling inventiveness, a cascade of astonishing sounds unfolding over about 25 minutes. Smith's music has an immense sonic palette, owing not only to her expressive skill with orchestration but also her penchant for unusual instrumentation. Bicycle frames, unshelled walnuts, metal mixing bowls, water bottles, twigs and branches are some of the everyday objects put to musical use. In Smith's orchestra, you can't always tell where a particular sound is coming from. Strings slither from one note to the next while the winds bend their pitches, clouding the texture for the sake of achieving a particular color. 'Rewilding' may incorporate certain minimalist techniques — and the score introduces an element of chance by instructing the strings to play out of sync with each other — but the music's scope and riotous colors are anything but minimal or random, even if the structure isn't always clear. The orchestra hummed, buzzed and yipped with the imagined sounds of insects, birds and maybe even canines. Popping noises arose, frogs ribbitted, a chorus of woodpeckers went wild. The sonorities pass from one group of instruments to another, thickening, bubbling, thinning out. 'Rewilding' builds, fades, builds again. A high-pitched section gives way to the lower strings and then to massed brass. After the last fade-out, you hear only bicycle wheels turning. Listeners curious about where Smith will go next can get another peek into her imagination next April, when she's scheduled to curate a pair of SoundBox concerts for the Symphony. Salonen opened the evening with a swift, sometimes very loud account of Richard Strauss' early tone poem 'Don Juan' — the same titular libertine who inspired Mozart's 'Don Giovanni.' In under 20 minutes, Strauss' vivid scene-setting does nearly as much with the character as that three-hour opera does. The performance was a blazing display of the orchestra's virtuosity, starting with the sleekly lustrous strings and trumpets. Highlights included principal oboe Eugene Izotov's lyrical solo and his interplay with principal clarinet Carey Bell and principal bassoon Joshua Elmore. And then there was the brilliant horn section, led by guest Daniel Hawkins, a former member of the orchestra and now principal horn of the Dallas Symphony. Hawkins and company took charge in 'Don Juan' and in the program's concluding selection, 'Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks,' also by Strauss. If you've ever wondered whether music can be sarcastic, this is the place to look for it. Salonen's interpretation had all the wit and cheek required. Alexander Barantschik nimbly dispatched the brief violin solo, and Matthew Griffith shone on E-flat clarinet. The evening also included Jean Sibelius ' mysterious Symphony No. 7, the Finnish composer's final completed work in that form. (Sibelius is believed to have labored for some years over an Eighth Symphony, burning whatever existed of the score sometime in the 1940s.) Brooding, monumental and yet compact — consisting of only a single 20-minute movement — the Seventh, like other Sibelius works, implies a vast physical and spiritual landscape. Salonen led the music with solemn grandeur, shaping it firmly.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Pride flag creator and activists honored with new sculpture
NAPA, Calif. (KRON) — The rainbow flag is recognized around the world as a symbol of LGBTQ+ social movements. The colorful banner is the creation of a San Francisco man. The artist behind the flag and two of his closest friends and fellow activists are now immortalized with a new sculpture. The iconic flag is a symbol of hope and a reminder of the ongoing battle for acceptance and equality. 'There was a need for something to put out to everyone to say, we are just like everybody else,' said Richard Gutierrez of San Francisco. Who was Harvey Milk? Late SF gay rights icon at center of ship renaming controversy The flag would debut at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Parade in June of 1978 at the request of gay rights icon Harvey Milk to show unity at a time of turbulence. 'We were still struggling. We were still being beaten up everywhere. That was horrible. The violence, the hatred,' said Steve Brownfield of San Francisco. 'The Pride parade was a way for us to feel good about ourselves finally.' The creative mind behind the eye-catching flag— artist Gilbert Baker. A new bronze sculpture now immortalizes Baker and his flag, years after his death, sharing a park bench with his departed friends Dr. Jerry Goldstein and Tom Taylor in a warm embrace. The artwork was crafted by Dina Angel Wing. More Pride Month stories 'A very important message for all of us, regardless of who you are, to have compassion to other people's lifestyles and celebrate love,' said Angel Wing, who felt her creation should depict a same-sex couple to live up to its name 'Freedom to Love.' It is now on display at the Napa Valley College Library. 'I want it to, to inspire some curiosity,' said Greg Miraglia, a Napa Valley College instructor of LGBT studies. 'There will be students that will come through that won't have any idea who these people on this bench are.' Tom and Jerry would make a name for themselves in San Francisco as gay activists, throwing extravagant parties to support charities. They are the namesakes of the Tom and Jerry house in Noe Valley, famous for its larger-than-life Christmas decorations. 'I just am so thankful that, that this is ended up here and that my uncles were out, that the idea that they didn't have to have this cover up story,' said Tom and Jerry's niece Angela Traeger. But with conservatives taking action to ban the Pride flag on government property in Utah, some are concerned progress is under threat. 'I feel like all of our gay rights are going to get stripped all over again and we just got to keep pushing on,' said Daniel Cherry, a friend of Tom and Jerry. The flag would evolve, making diversity more visible, and still advocates for a more inclusive society today. 'I certainly hope this generation feels safer.' A hope made possible by the contributions of those who've helped pave the way. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Hegseth orders renaming of Navy ship named after gay rights icon Harvey Milk: report
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has reportedly ordered the Navy to rename a ship named after gay rights icon Harvey Milk. Documents, sources and memorandum cited by indicated the Navy has come up with rollout plans for renaming the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk. British Airways flight attendant reportedly found dancing naked on SFO flight Defense officials confirmed to the publication that the Navy was making plans to rename the ship, noting that Navy Secretary John Phelan was ordered to do so by Hegseth. The timing of the incident, during Pride month, was intentional, according to the report. A memo cited by indicated that the renaming was done in 'alignment with president and SECDEF objectives and SECNAV priorities of reestablishing warrior culture,' apparently referencing President Donald Trump, Hegseth and Phelan. According to news of the renaming is slated to be publicly announced on June 13. There was no immediate word on what the ship would be renamed as. Milk was a gay rights activist who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978. During his brief tenure as one of the first openly gay elected officials in the country, Milk championed the gay community and sponsored a bill that outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation. Less than a year after taking office, Milk was assassinated along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone by former supervisor Dan White. White, who served only five years in prison, died by suicide in 1985. Milk was a U.S. Navy veteran who served for four years and attained the rank of lieutenant. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
