Coda: Michael Tilson Thomas Conducts His Final Concerts at the New World Symphony
"A 'coda' is a musical element at the end of a composition that brings the whole piece to a conclusion...My life’s coda is generous and rich." - Michael Tilson Thomas
MIAMI BEACH, FL - It feels like a big deal when a well-known musician announces their retirement. In rock, a band will often put on a farewell tour, culminating in a final concert that is more often than not captured for posterity. In opera, a star singer's departure is usually met with deep mourning and accelerated ticket prices. Same goes for popular singers such as Johnny Mathis, who just announced he'll be playing his final show next month out in Englewood, NJ.
In orchestral music, where conductors tend to persist well into their 80's and beyond, the end isn't usually revealed in advance. When Leonard Bernstein conducted what turned out to be his final concert at Tanglewood in 1990, he hadn't yet announced his retirement, despite his obvious poor health. Only the ominous thunderstorms that day - almost unheard of when Lenny was at Tanglewood - offered any indication that this might be his last appearance.
In the case of Bernstein's one-time mentee, Michael Tilson Thomas, we've known for some time that his conducting days were numbered, having been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer back in 2022. For awhile, it seemed as if MTT would defy the dire odds, continuing to conduct orchestras across the U.S. and Europe with poise and finesse, including this season's opening night with the NY Phil where he seemed, "alert and ardent, even hopping a few inches into the air at one full-hearted moment" (NY Times). I last saw him conduct Beethoven's 9th at Tanglewood in 2022, and he seemed fully engaged, if perhaps a bit less energetic than in the past.
Then, in February, MTT published a note revealing that the brain tumor had returned and thus would be winding down his public appearances. But, not before honoring two final engagements with the orchestras that mean the most to him. On April 26, he'll lead his own 80th birthday concert in his adopted home of San Francisco with the SF Symphony and Chorus and a host of big-name singers.
As festive as I'm sure that event will be, I was more interested in Michael's concerts this past weekend with the New World Symphony, the post-conservatory orchestra he co-founded in Miami Beach in 1987 and led for 35 years, right up until his diagnosis. I got to spend several days with MTT and the talented New World fellows back in 2018, and came away deeply impressed not just by the high level of musicianship, but by the direct influence MTT has had on almost all aspects of New World's operations: from the curriculum, to the high-tech classrooms with remote learning capabilities, to the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center and its "Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall." Indeed, it's difficult to imagine a New World Symphony without him.