Thomas Schippers
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Thomas Schippers (March 9, 1930–December 16, 1977) was a prominent American orchestral conductor. He was highly-regarded for his operatic work.
Schippers was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He began playing piano at age 4. He attended the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School. He made his debut at the New York City Opera at age 21, and the Metropolitan Opera at 23. He conducted world premieres of now well known music by Gian Carlo Menotti and Samuel Barber. He conducted in all the major opera houses of the U.S. and Europe, most notably the Metropolitan Opera and La Scala, and founded Italy's Spoleto festival with Menotti.
At one time he was named as one of the 100 most important men in America. He was a regular conductor with the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and made recordings with them as well, but in 1970 he finally took a full time orchestral position with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, succeeding his predecessor at the Metropolitan Opera, Max Rudolf. After making several recordings with them and building the orchestra's international reputation, his career was cut short by his sudden death from lung cancer at age 47 in 1977.
During the 1970s, he also served as principal conductor of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He made many opera recordings in his time, and live recordings of his performances are gradually being made available on CD.
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| Preceded by Max Rudolf |
Music Director, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra 1970 – 1977 |
Succeeded by Michael Gielen |
| Preceded by Igor Markevitch |
Principal Conductors, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia 1976 |
Succeeded by Giuseppe Sinopoli |
