MUSIC

Michael Tilson Thomas begins his first U.S. and Japanese tour as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday in Philadelphia. The tour, which includes 14 U.S. cities and four in Japan, will include mid-March stops in Torrance, Costa Mesa, Palm Desert and Pasadena. Thomas, the first American to be named principal conductor of the London Symphony, took his post at the start of the 1988-89 concert season.