The conducting career of Michael Tilson Thomas is certainly legendary.  But those who've never heard the San Francisco Symphony maestro as raconteur were in for a rare treat Monday evening at USC's Bovard Auditorium.

Tilson Thomas was in town to help celebrate the 125th anniversary of USC's Thornton School of Music. As an L.A. native and one of the school's most illustrious alumni, the 64-year-old conductor, composer, pianist and music educator first took a stroll down memory lane, wonderfully recounting some of his most formative influences as a young music student. The program (sponsored by the university's Visions and Voices series) ended with Tilson Thomas leading Thornton students in Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.

The evening almost had the nostalgic feel of Ingmar Bergman's 'Wild Strawberries,' the classic 1957 film in which the bestowing of an honorary degree is opportunity for the story's protagonist to reflect on his past, spurred on by a younger generation.  As a young person himself living in L.A., Tilson Thomas was lucky to be among a special company of European émigrés who settled in Southern California after the Second World War.  The son of two stars of the Yiddish theater, he began studies at USC at age 10 and within a few short years played chamber music with violinist Jascha Heifetz, studied composition with Ingolf Dahl and met Stravinsky.

But there were plenty of others involved in the young Tilson Thomas' education, and with the help of slides and a masterful wit, the capacity audience at Bovard Auditorium got to know the full range of his musical influences.   One of them, siting professor emeritus and violinist Alice Schoenfeld, was even there to acknowledge the audience's applause.  Teachers also included pianists Lillian Steuber and John Crown, the latter of whom taught Tilson Thomas the value of a broad life experience.   A gentle humor coursed through the conductor's stories, with a few comic zingers thrown in.  Tilson Thomas switched to a German accent to impersonate Alice Ehlers, the renowned harpsichordist who shared her affections for the "beautiful" Alban Berg.  (Might Tilson Thomas consider a future in stand-up?)

After a two-minute break, the stage was set for orchestral musicians from Thornton.  Tilson Thomas led the players from memory in Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony with its mighty brass fanfares and winsome melodies.  Okay, it wasn't the crispest ensemble, and nerves were clearly visible.   But it was a marvelous opportunity for the musicians to work with a master.  And as Tilson Thomas himself put it, "to be part of a living tradition of music-making."