Michael Tilson Thomas has been named a Judge Widney Professor of Music at the University of Southern California. MTT, who is a two-time alumnus of the USC Thornton School (’67 and MM ’76), will take up his appointment in Fall 2015, working directly with students through mentorship and other educational opportunities. 

A Los Angeles native, MTT studied piano at USC with John Crown and conducting and composition with Ingolf Dahl. At age 19, he was named music director of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, and worked with Igor Stravinsky, Pierre Boulez, Karlheiz Stockhausen and Aaron Copland on premieres of their compositions at Los Angeles’s Monday Evening Concerts.

MTT conducted the USC Thornton Symphony in 2009 in a concert at Bovard Auditorium as part of USC Thornton’s 125th anniversary celebration and last summer led the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. He returns to Southern California to lead the LA Phil in January 2015.