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 ThomasExtreme volume in music very often disguises a lack of actually important content.
Michael Tilson ThomasOne of my central maxims is how a major part of what a conductor tries to do is get a large group of people to agree on where "now" actually is.
Michael Tilson ThomasThe 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