On Saturday, April 26, the San Francisco Symphony threw an MTT 80th Birthday Celebration filled with music, special guests, and lots of blue. MTT conducted the opening and closing pieces of the performance — Britten’s A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and Respighi’s Roman Festival. In between, special guests Frederica von Stade, Sasha Cooke, Jessica Vosk, and Ben Jones joined the orchestra to perform some of MTT’s own vocal compositions, and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus was featured in the finale from Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Conductors Teddy Abrams and Edwin Outwater, both who have long-time associations with MTT, assured podium duties throughout. As an encore, Sasha Cooke sang MTT’s song Grace, a prayer of thanksgiving originally written for Leonard Bernstein’s 70th birthday. Teddy Abrams then led the orchestra, chorus and audience in a Bar Mitzvah march full of clapping and shouting MTT before hundreds of blue balloons were released into the hall. 

At Davies Hall, fans waved blue bandanas and sipped their Bolinas Breezes—an MTT-inspired cocktail that was his signature blue. From the stage before the concert, San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie declared April 26, 2025, MTT Day and just down the block, City Hall was lit up in MTT blue. 

The celebratory event was the culmination of a 51-year relationship between the San Francisco Symphony and MTT, who made his debut with the orchestra in 1974 and served as its Music Director from 1995 to 2020. Here are some highlights! 

Michael Tilson Thomas takes his final bow with San Francisco Symphony

— San Francisco Chronicle

For beloved conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, a final bow from the podium

— Los Angeles Times

 

 
A Blowout Birthday Bash, A Hero’s Sendoff

— Musical America

Michael Tilson Thomas Bids an Emotional Farewell at His 80th Birthday Concert

— KQED 

‘Magnificent’: Michael Tilson Thomas’ final concert brings the whole house to tears

— San Francisco Standard

MTT’s brilliance shone through at final SF Symphony bow

— 48 Hills

Michael Tilson Thomas’s 80th Birthday Bash Is Also a Farewell to the Podium

— San Francisco Classical Voice

Michael Tilson Thomas’s 80th birthday concert favors delights over tearful goodbyes

— Seen and Heard International

Michael Tilson Thomas takes final bow at 80th birthday concert

— Classic 107

SF Symphony celebrates MTT’s 80th birthday with personal, poignant program

— SF Gate

Michael Tilson Thomas Conducts Final SF Concert, Takes the Applause For His 80th Birthday

— SFist

 

San Francisco Celebrates Michael Tilson Thomas Day with Maestro’s Final Symphony Performance 

— Hoodline

What a Swell Party This is!— The Rehearsal Studio

Love Fest for MTT

— Lively Foundation