Michael Tilson Thomas and American Mavericks

In the year 2000 Michael Tilson Thomas and his San Francisco Symphony presented a series of musical events under the title "American Mavericks." It featured music by the radicals, the extremists in American classical music from Ives to Feldman. It was a huge success. This season - the Centennial season of the SFS - MTT is doing it again. And this time he is taking "American Mavericks" to other cities across the country. This is repertoire most American orchestras won't even touch and MTT revels in it and makes a festival out of it. These pieces are not all masterpieces but they are innovative and exciting and flesh out the history of American music which is by no means confined to Copland, Gershwin and John Williams, or even John Adams.

Paul E. Robinson