Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) assumed his post as the San Francisco Symphony's (SFS) eleventh Music Director in September 1995, consolidating a strong relationship with the Orchestra that began with his debut here in 1974 at the age of twenty-nine. Along with his post here in San Francisco, MTT serves as Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, a national training orchestra for the most gifted graduates of America's conservatories, which he founded in 1988 and as Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, where he served as Principal Conductor for seven years.