The state’s largest arts organization has a new leader.
Isaac Thompson has been named president and chief executive officer of the Minnesota Orchestra, returning to his home area after two years of holding the same positions with the Oregon Symphony.
He succeeds Brent Assink, who has served in an interim capacity since September 2024, after Michelle Miller Burns departed to take the same role with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
Thompson, who begins work at Orchestra Hall on Oct. 14, is a graduate of Mounds View High School. As a violinist, he was a member of the Minnesota Youth Symphonies and studied with Minnesota Orchestra concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis. He earned a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a master’s from the University of Texas.
After serving as artistic administrator at the San Francisco Bay area’s Music@Menlo chamber music festival, Thompson began his career in orchestral administration with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra before moving on to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Oregon Symphony. He also serves on the board of Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media.
“The opportunity to return to Minnesota to lead my hometown orchestra at this moment is deeply meaningful,” Thompson said in a statement. “Many of my formative musical experiences occurred at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, and I credit my knowledge of and love for the symphonic repertoire to the Minnesota Orchestra. The admiration with which Minnesota holds its flagship symphony orchestra is truly inspiring.”
Among the items on Thompson’s to-do list is helping lead the next stage of development in the Upper Harbor Terminal Amphitheater project in collaboration with First Avenue and the city of Minneapolis.
