Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944), is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is currently music director of the San Francisco Symphony. Tilson Thomas was born in Los Angeles, California to Ted and Roberta Thomas, Broadway stage manager, and a middle school history teacher. He is the grandson of noted Yiddish theater stars Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky. Tilson Thomas studied at the University of Southern California under Ingolf Dahl, among others. As a student of Friedlinde Wagner, Tilson Thomas was a Musical Assistant and Assistant Conductor at the Bayreuth Festival.