Michael Tilson Thomas has shared an emotional update on his health, revealing that his brain tumor has returned. “Three years ago, I wrote to tell you that I’m battling glioblastoma,” he wrote in a statement on social media. “The three and a half years since the initial diagnosis have been a special time in my life, filled with friends, family, and music.”
After undergoing surgery and various treatments, Tilson Thomas had continued to make select appearances with orchestras he holds dear, including the London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony. However, as his condition progresses, he has decided to step away from public performances.
“My doctors have informed me that the tumor has returned. There are treatment options, but the odds are uncertain,” he shared. Now based in San Francisco with his husband, Joshua Robison, and their beloved pups, he finds solace in music: “There’s a keyboard on each floor, and occasionally a piece by CPE Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Schumann, a Broadway melody, or one of my own tunes seems to emerge.” He also enjoys occasional trips to Bolinas, cherishing moments of peace.
Tilson Thomas will make his final scheduled appearances in March with the New World Symphony—an institution he founded—and on April 26, when the San Francisco Symphony will celebrate his 80th birthday. “At that point, we all get to say the old show business expression, ‘It’s a wrap.”
Reflecting on his journey, he likened this moment to a musical coda—the concluding passage of a composition. “My life’s coda is generous and rich,” he wrote, embracing the final chapter of an extraordinary career.
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