---
title: "1 Audience Important Quotes By Michael Tilson Thomas"
description: "1 Audience Important quotes by Michael Tilson Thomas. Plus more from Michael Tilson Thomas and more Audience Important sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/michael-tilson-thomas-15268_art_the-way-you-survive-in-the-performing-ar_2383646.png"
---

> [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.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/the-way-you-survive-in-the-performing-arts-is-by-having-a-sense-of/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/michael-tilson-thomas-15268_art_the-way-you-survive-in-the-performing-ar_2383646.png)

## More by Michael Tilson Thomas

> [If we are able to get inside the music and inhabit it convincingly enough, it will cause everyone to find each other in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/if-we-are-able-to-get-inside-the-music-and-inhabit-it-convincingly/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [Being a conductor is kind of a hybrid profession because most fundamentally, it is being someone who is a coach, a trainer, an editor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/being-a-conductor-is-kind-of-a-hybrid-profession-because-most/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [You know, they were returning to the language of the people and trying to use musical language, particularly as Copland did to create a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/you-know-they-were-returning-to-the-language-of-the-people-and-trying/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/the-first-year-i-started-in-san-francisco-there-was-an-american-work/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [Conductors are performers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/conductors-are-performers/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [The world changes when there's music in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/the-world-changes-when-there-s-music-in-it/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [But those musics do not address the larger kind of architecture in time that classical music does, whatever each one of us knows that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/but-those-musics-do-not-address-the-larger-kind-of-architecture-in/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [ If you're curious, if you have a capacity for wonder, if you're alive, you know all that you need to know \[about music\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/if-you-re-curious-if-you-have-a-capacity-for-wonder-if-you-re-alive/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [Classical music is a wonderful 1200 year-old tradition that witnesses everything that it has meant and what it means right now to be human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/classical-music-is-a-wonderful-1200-year-old-tradition-that-witnesses/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [But a large symphony orchestra basically is a repertory company and it has a very enormous repertoire and it is important for the performers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/but-a-large-symphony-orchestra-basically-is-a-repertory-company-and/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [You can't have Bach, Mozart and Beethoven as your favorite composers. They simply define what music is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/you-can-t-have-bach-mozart-and-beethoven-as-your-favorite-composers/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [Being an American musician means being adventurous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/being-an-american-musician-means-being-adventurous/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [I can't do pieces I only admire technically. I have to feel some direct contact with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/i-can-t-do-pieces-i-only-admire-technically-i-have-to-feel-some/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/but-without-the-experience-of-actually-singing-or-playing-these/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

> [This extraordinary group has absolutely captivated my imagination, knocked my socks off - what more can I say?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/this-extraordinary-group-has-absolutely-captivated-my-imagination/)

[Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/)

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