American conductor and composer Michael Tilson Thomas was BOTD in 1944. Born in Los Angeles, he was a musical prodigy, studying music composition and conducting at the University of Southern California. He made his conducting debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra when he was 24, and went on to work with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras. In 1985, he made headlines when he stormed offstage during a concert at the Hollywood Bowl after a police helicopter flew over the venue. In 1987, he founded the New World Symphony, before being appointed principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and latterly the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. In 2000 he founded the American Mavericks Festival, recognising the works of 20th century American composers, helping popularise the work of Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, Steve Reich and Meredith Monk. In 2009, he helped create the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, whose members were selected from 30 countries worldwide. In 2001, he commissioned and conducted the premier of Del Tredici’s Gay Life, a series of pieces based on poems by gay writers Allen Ginsberg, Thom Gunn and Paul Monette. His own compositions also include settings of works by queer poets Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Openly gay since forever, he is married to his long-term partner Joshua Robison.