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Michael Tilson Thomas celebrates 20 years at the helm of the San Francisco Symphony with a European tour starting in Birmingham on March 14. To coincide with this major anniversary, MTT spoke to Gramophone‘s James Jolly about his relationship with his superb West Coast ensemble, and about touring and programming. Listen to this EFG International podcast in the Gramophone Player at the bottom of the page.

The March 14 concert in Birmingham – Ives’s ‘The Alcotts’ (from the Concord Sonata, orchestrated by Henry Brant), John Adams’s Absolute Jest and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique – falls into Symphony Hall’s ‘Try it for a tenner’ scheme (£10 plus a £2.50 transaction fee). Simply visit the Symphony Hall website and click on the SFSO concert link.

The SFSO travel to the Royal Festival Hall for two concerts (March 15, same programme as Birmingham and 16 – Mahler’s Third Symphony). Further concerts take place in Paris, Geneva, Dortmund, Luxembourg, Prague and Vienna.