South Florida Classical Review

Joshua Robison and Michael Tilson Thomas at the time of their marriage in 2014.

Joshua Robison, longtime manager, assistant, and life and artistic partner of Michael Tilson Thomas, died in his sleep on Sunday February 22. Robison, 79, had suffered a fall at his home in the San Francisco Bay area and was in rehabilitation therapy.

When Tilson Thomas co-founded the New World Symphony (with Ted and Lin Arison) in 1987, Robison played a vital part behind the scenes in planning and carrying out Tilson Thomas’ vision for the orchestral academy. (He would play a similar role when Tilson Thomas became music director of the San Francisco Symphony.) 

In a statement, New World president and CEO Howard Herring said “Joshua and Michael were the very definition of a team. The selfless love and devotion they shared benefited us all and embodied the very qualities that brought the New World Symphony to life.”

Robison and Tilson Thomas’ nearly 50-year relationship began when they played in the orchestra at their junior high school in North Hollywood, California. Robison was 11 years old and played the cello while Tilson Thomas, 12, played oboe. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Robison said they would look at each other when the music mood changed, feeling the pulse’s turmoil. Robison would go on to the University of California, Berkeley in 1964 on a gymnastics scholarship. He would excel in competition and, in 1967, win the NCAA championship.

Becoming an educator, Robison would teach in New York public schools and the Bank Street College of Education. Meanwhile Tilson Thomas became a conducting star almost overnight when he took over in mid-concert at a Boston Symphony Orchestra program at New York’s Lincoln Center after William Steinberg suffered a heart attack on the podium. In their 20s, they would meet again in New York and form a lasting bond. One of the first openly gay couples in classical music, they married in 2014.

Over the course of Tilson Thomas’ career, they lived in Buffalo, New York City, London, San Francisco and Miami Beach. In addition to planning and facilitating his partner’s performances, Robison played a pivotal role in the creation and presentation of Tilson Thomas’ media projects – the public television series Keeping Score and the radio program MTT Files. 

In 2021 Tilson Thomas was diagnosed with brain cancer and Robison helped the conductor to continue to make music on a reduced schedule. He produced Tilson Thomas’ podium farewell in April, 2026 with the San Francisco Symphony. (The conductor’s final New World Symphony concert took place last March.)

In addition to Tilson Thomas, Robison is survived by his sisters—Deborah, a teacher and writer, and the renowned flutist Paula Robison. (She has appeared frequently as soloist, coach, chamber music player and narrator at New World.)

Joshua Robison’s brother-in-law, the violist and concert producer Scott Nickrenz (Paula Robison’s husband) died in March, 2025. Nickrenz had worked with Tilson Thomas and Robison as founder of the New World Symphony’s chamber music series and was its director for the academy’s first two decades. 

Through their work in education and concert production, Robison and his family have left an important mark on South Florida’s musical life.

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