Thomas Schippers

Of Dutch ancestry and son of the owner of a large appliance store, Schippers was born in Portage, Michigan.

He conducted child actor Chet Allen in a theatrical version of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Schippers conducted in all the major opera houses of the United States and Europe, most notably the Metropolitan Opera and La Scala, and founded Italy's Spoleto festival with Menotti and once described his perfect orchestra as being composed of "one-third Italian musicians for their line, one-third Jewish for their sound, a sprinkling of Germans for solidity".

During the 1970s, he was appointed principal conductor of l'Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia but conducted only one concert with the orchestra (in May 1976, including Ravel's Ma Mère l'Oye suite).

According to professor, writer and opera scholar John Louis DiGaetani, Schippers had a long-term romantic relationship with Menotti and a shorter one with mathematician Sean Clarke.