MTT leads a free concert at Yerba Buena Gardens, 2000

2000–01

NEW CENTURY, NEW HORIZONS

.

As a new century dawns, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony continue charting the bold new course on which they had set out five years prior. Having established their position as a leader in innovation through enterprises such as the wildly successful American Mavericks festival, MTT and the Symphony still have plenty to say about our country’s musical guideposts. Case in point: the beautiful recording Aaron Copland: The Populist (2000), a portrait of MTT’s friend and mentor, Aaron Copland.

MODERNIST/POPULIST

MTT’s friendship with Aaron Copland—the “Dean of American Composers”was the catalyst for many MTTSan Francisco Symphony projects over the years, beginning with a pair of splendid recordings: Aaron Copland: The Modernist (1996) and The Populist (2000), later released as the comprehensive set, Aaron Copland—The Essence of America (2000). Copland’s confident balance of seemingly opposing sensibilities had a great effect on MTT’s own mode of communication: [Copland] wanted the music to evoke the actual experience of life. I think that’s why, after all the styles have come and gone, his music still has its essential quality. 

Michael Tilson Thomas
MTT, Yurie Pascarella, Paul and Nancy Pelosi, 2001 Black & White Ball
Nancy Bechtle, MTT, and Charlotte Schultz, 2001 Black & White Ball
Leslie Kandell, The New York Times, February 18, 2001

European Tour

The SFS tours Europe with pianists Martha Argerich and Hélène Grimaud, AugustSeptember 2000.

London, England, Royal Albert Hall 

Baden-Baden, GermanyFestspielhaus 

Lucerne, Switzerland, Kultur und Kongresszentrum 

Turin, Italy, Il Ling Otto 

Cologne, GermanyPhilharmonie 

Düsseldorf, GermanyTonhalle 

Hannover, GermanyKuppelsaal 

Braunschweig, Germany, Stadthalle 

Luxembourg, Conservatoire de Luxembourg 

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Concertgebouw 

Frankfurt, Germany, Alte Oper 

Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, September 1, 2000

American Tour

The February 2001 National Tour was sponsored by Charles Schwab.

MTT, the SF Symphony & Chorus, and soloists bow at Carnegie Hall, 2001

New York, NY, Carnegie Hall 

Greenvale, NY, Tilles Center for the Performing Arts 

Washington DC, Kennedy Center Concert Hall 

Tune in to KDFC at 3pm daily for “MTT Time”—special concert broadcasts from each year of MTT’s historic tenure, featuring commentary from MTT himself.

Please wait...