Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas is the subject of a PBS “American Masters” program to air on PBS on October 23 at 9 p.m. ET. “Michael Tilson Thomas: Where Now Is” documents the conductor and composer’s life and career, from his childhood in California to his rise to world stages and leadership roles at the New World Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony. The documentary, focusing on formative experiences in Tilson Thomas’s musical life, includes interviews with composer Steve Reich; Los Angeles Philharmonic CEO Chad Smith; pianist Ralph Grierson; Boston Symphony Orchestra CEO Mark Volpe; San Francisco Chronicle music critic Joshua Kosman; former BBC head of music and arts Humphrey Burton; and Clive Gillinson, executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall, as well as commentary from architect Frank Gehry, who designed the New World Center, and Joshua Robison, Tilson Thomas’s husband and partner. Included is concert footage with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony; and scenes from Tilson Thomas’s day-to-day life at the New World Symphony, the postgraduate orchestral academy in Miami Beach that he co-founded in 1987 to prepare young musicians of diverse backgrounds for leadership roles in classical music.
Change font size
