Credit: Kristen Loken
On May 16, Cleveland Institute of Music will confer an honorary doctorate on Michael Tilson Thomas, one of the more well-known and well-respected contemporary conductors. Tilson Thomas will accept degree remotely in live video address to CIM’s centennial-year commencement.

Tilson Thomas, the Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra, is a two-time Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist. He’s curated and conducted at the hall from 2003 to 2005 and from 2018 to 2019. In the most recent series, he led Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America both at the hall and on tour in Asia.

A winner of 11 Grammy awards, Tilson Thomas appears on more than 120 recordings. He’s been a Musical America’s Musician of the Year and Conductor of the Year and Gramophone magazine’s Artist of the Year. He’s also been profiled on CBS’s 60 Minutes and ABC’s Nightline.

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This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2020.

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 25 years now. On a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town. And if you're in a local band that he needs to hear, email him at jniesel@clevescene.com.