Michael Tilson Thomas (b. 1944) is the third generation of his family to follow an artistic career. Internationally acclaimed as both conductor and composer, Tilson Thomas composes in a colorful, eclectic style that reflects his passion for the diversity of American musical life. He began his formal studies at the University of Southern California where he studied piano with John Crown and conducting and composition with Ingolf Dahl, and went on to win prestigious conducting prizes and hold posts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra. Tilson Thomas began his tenure in September 1995 as the San Francisco Symphony's 11th Music Director. He is also the Founder and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony.

Despite being one of the busiest conductors on the international scene, Tilson Thomas has devoted considerable time to composing throughout his career. He has written for orchestra, voice and chamber music ensembles, and his From the Diary of Anne Frank, for narrator and orchestra, has been performed throughout the world. More recently, his song cycle on Emily Dickinson poems was performed on international and national tours by the San Francisco Symphony. Tilson Thomas' 60th birthday was feted internationally, with performances in San Francisco, London, and New York. The 2004-05 season was notable also for Michael Tilson Thomas' residency at Carnegie Hall's Perspectives Series and his realization of the Tomashevsky Project, which brought to life once again his grandparents, Yiddish-theatre stars Boris and Bessie Thomashevsky.