[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 192 (Tuesday, December 3, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1522]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS

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                         HON. DONNA E. SHALALA

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 3, 2019

  Ms. SHALALA. Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of Michael Tilson Thomas, 
the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, 
America's Orchestral Academy in Miami Beach.
  Michael Tilson Thomas is also Music Director of the San Francisco 
Symphony and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra. In 
addition to these posts, he maintains an active presence guest-
conducting with the major orchestras of Europe and the United States. 
The New World Symphony has helped launch the careers of more than 1,000 
alumni worldwide.
  Born in Los Angeles, Mr. Tilson Thomas is the third generation of his 
family to follow an artistic career. His grandparents, Boris and Bessie 
Thomashefsky, were founding members of the Yiddish Theater in America. 
His father, Ted Thomas, was a producer in the Mercury Theater Company 
in New York before moving to Los Angeles where he worked in films and 
television. His mother, Roberta Thomas, was the head of research for 
Columbia Pictures.
  Mr. Tilson Thomas is a Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres 
of France, was Musical America's Musician of the Year and Conductor of 
the Year, Gramophone Magazine's Artist of the Year, and has been 
profiled on CBS's 60 Minutes and ABC's Nightline. He has won 11 Grammy 
Awards for his recordings. In 2008 he received the Peabody Award for 
his radio series for SFS Media, The MTT Files. In 2010, President Obama 
awarded him the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to 
artists in the United States

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