And what classical music does best and must always do more, is to show this kind of transformation of moods, to show a very wide psychological voyage. And I think that's something that we as classical musicians have underestimated. Michael Tilson Thomas More Quotes by Michael Tilson Thomas More Quotes From Michael Tilson Thomas The way you survive in the performing arts is by having a sense of your audience, and doing things which entertain and satisfy the audience, but in a more important way, cause the audience to question many things. Michael Tilson Thomas important way art A conundrum of music is that music brings people together, yet to become a skilled musician involves a certain amount of lonely time in which you're just figuring it out, practicing. Michael Tilson Thomas lonely together people In earlier times, so many people sang much more. You know as a kid you'd go to some kind of religious training and or summer camp or whatever it was and you'd learn to sing a lot of songs. Michael Tilson Thomas religious summer song The real deep text of music and the whole reason that it has continued with the profundity and urgency that it has for over a thousand years, has to do with what the notes say, what the notes witness, different experiences of hope or doubt that people are able to distill and encode and pass on in this way. Michael Tilson Thomas different-experiences real years But if I can be convinced and then through the work that we do together, the orchestra can really be convinced of the big sweep of that communication that the piece suggests, then the audience will get it and it will be a good experience for all of us. Michael Tilson Thomas experience communication together This extraordinary group has absolutely captivated my imagination, knocked my socks off - what more can I say? Michael Tilson Thomas sock groups imagination But without the experience of actually singing or playing these things yourself, you don't have the same kind of involvement or understanding of what these musical moves mean. And that is a very big problem in addressing the future of music. Michael Tilson Thomas understanding mean moving They are representations of many shared hours of collaboration between us all. That's the real nature of the relationship the orchestra and I are trying to build. Michael Tilson Thomas nature real trying Extreme volume in music very often disguises a lack of actually important content. Michael Tilson Thomas disguise volume important I think music needs to be presented in a way so that kids can grasp songs, dances, simple music that's associated with some particular defining moment in human experience. Michael Tilson Thomas simple song kids The first year I started in San Francisco, there was an American work on every program and there's been a lot of music by living composers and gradually that was part of the process of getting the audience really to trust me. Michael Tilson Thomas san-francisco trust years But those musics do not address the larger kind of architecture in time that classical music does, whatever each one of us knows that classical music must mean. Michael Tilson Thomas addresses doe mean The world changes when there's music in it. Michael Tilson Thomas music world And at the same time, you are of course a performer, but it's very important that you understand that your role as a performer is to get the best performance from those wonderful colleagues that you have the chance to work with. Michael Tilson Thomas best you work time But some people will say you just did these programs. Well, yes, the programs are important and I'm proud of the programs, but mostly I'm proud of the way the San Francisco Symphony plays these programs. Michael Tilson Thomas you proud people way But still as compared to many, many orchestras in the world, I think you find a lot more new music and living composers on our programs than many other places. Michael Tilson Thomas think you music world But you know in the contemporary art world, you pose a very interesting conundrum. All sorts of people collect very contemporary art, yet when it comes to the music which is analogous to that sort of art, they are not interested, or perhaps even hostile. Michael Tilson Thomas you music people art Conductors are performers. Michael Tilson Thomas conductors performers Earlier in my life, I performed a lot of music. Some of it because I felt it was a demonstration, or a representation of certain intellectual concepts that were very exciting and important. Michael Tilson Thomas my-life music important life I can't do pieces I only admire technically. I have to feel some direct contact with them. Michael Tilson Thomas only some feel admire
