Today, Michael Tilson Thomas celebrates the 50th anniversary of his New York conducting debut, in which he stepped in for William Steinberg mid-concert to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Philharmonic (now Geffen) Hall.

MTT had recently won the Koussevitzky Prize at Tanglewood and been appointed Assistant Conductor and pianist of the orchestra, so after Music Director Steinberg fell ill during the first half of the program, he said to MTT, “You! Put your suit on! You’re going to conduct!”

To hear MTT tell this story via PBS NewsHour’s “That Moment When” (4:49), click here.

The performance earned MTT international recognition and acclaim in The New York Times from then-senior music critic Harold Schonberg. Read below.