Thomas Schippers (1930-1977)

Celebrated Symphony Conductor

Born in Portage Township to Agnes and Peter Schippers in 1930, one of Kalamazoo’s most famous musical exports was the conductor Thomas Schippers, a popular figure whose career rose to prominence after World War II. Like his contemporary and friend Leonard Bernstein, Schippers’ found success early, having begun playing the piano at the age of 4 and debuting at the New York City Opera at 21. He became almost as famous for his good looks as he was for his piano playing and conducting given the number of times over the years that print and television profiles evoked his fetching appearance.

Humble Beginnings

Thomas’ father Peter and mother Agnes (Nanninga) were both born in Portage Township in the early part of the 20th century. Both grew up under the stringent dictates of the Dutch Reformed Church. The couple married in the summer of 1922 while still in their teens. Their first child Cornelia Grace, died of diphtheria only a few years later. The couple eventually had  three more children, Henry, Thomas and Gracetta.

In the late 1920s, Peter worked as a tire salesman (Tire Service Co.). Over time, emphasis on tires would be replaced with the sale and repair of home appliances. In 1939, the business he ran with M.O. Leach, the Service Appliance Company, celebrated its ten year anniversary at their recently renovated store, located at 401 E. Michigan Avenue. As the family grew, more room was needed, and so the Schippers moved out of their Portage rental into a home in Kalamazoo on Van Zee street, situated in the Edison Neighborhood. Thomas’ grandmother on his mother’s side lived across the street. It was there where the young Thomas would begin his musical journey, three decades before becoming an internationally celebrated conductor. His grandmother owned several pianos, which provided the young Thomas an opportunity to impress his family, who supported his potential by connecting him with several teachers, including Victoria McLaughlin, a local instructor who had studied in Europe with Brahms. Thomas gravitated to the organ, spending hours at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church learning how to master it while his boyhood friends played sports. Thomas’ meteoric rise in the world of music was certainly not a probable one. There had not been a tradition of musical education within the family’s background that Schippers could pull from. His prodigal talent and interest in playing the piano and organ seemed to have developed entirely from himself alone. But with the encouragement and tough love of Agnes, and the faith of his instructors, Thomas developed his precocious talent into skill. His first formal recital came in 1939, when he performed at a house in Bangor, Michigan along side his former teacher Ilah Decker, who played several duets with Thomas.

At age 15, having graduated high school early, Schippers headed off to the renown Curtis School of Music in Philadelphia. From there, stints at Julliard, Harvard University, and Yale followed. Despite the protestations from his family, Thomas moved to New York in the late 1940s to find work, and to pursue a career as a conductor.

International Success

For the next three decades, Schippers stirred the musical world with his conducting of the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the latter of which he headed full-time beginning in 1970. He championed the music of 20th century composers like Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti. He was known primarily for his association with opera, founding the Spoleto Festival with Menotti. In addition to his output as a conductor, Schippers also recorded several albums while at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

He married heiress and socialite Elaine “Nonie” Phipps in 1965. She died of ovarian cancer in 1973. Sadly, Schippers’ life was also cut short in 1977, when he died of lung cancer at the age of 47.

Written by Ryan Gage, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, September 2024.