Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony, April 2018

"Life is precious.” - Michael Tilson Thomas

When I visited Miami's New World Symphony back in 2018, I had the chance to ask NWS co-founder Michael Tilson Thomas, who had recently announced his departure as Music Director in San Francisco, if he'd ever imagined a New World without him.

“Well, it's not really something I can control," Thomas said. "But, there are many musicians and alumni who have come here repeatedly as coaches who could easily carry on. In that sense, the continuity is already there."

MTT stepped down from New World in 2022, not long after he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a lethal form of brain cancer. (He was succeeded by Stéphane Denève the following year.) Despite a grim prognosis - most patients die in less than a year - Thomas has continued to guest conduct orchestras across Europe and the U.S., including this season's opening night with the NY Phil. All indications were that the cancer was in check, and that if anything, the act of conducting has been its own form of therapy.

"It feels really great," Thomas said after conducting the BSO at Tanglewood in 2022. "It feels restorative.”

But, last month, Thomas revealed to the world that the tumor had returned, and would be canceling all of his future engagements in order to focus on his health. With two exceptions: a long-planned 80th birthday concert in San Francisco on April 26, featuring the SF Symphony and Chorus. And a pair of concerts this weekend in Miami Beach, where he'll conduct the New World fellows one final time in Beethoven's mighty 5th symphony. (Alasdair Neale will handle Mozart's Don Giovanni overture and Piano Concerto No. 14, with Jeremy Denk.) A fitting end to a long and generous musical career.

I'll be in Miami Beach for what I'm sure will be an experience filled with the widest range of emotion; there are still a few tickets left for Sunday's matinee if you plan on joining.