Isaac Thompson named president and CEO of Minnesota Orchestra

The Minnesota Orchestra has appointed Isaac Thompson as its next president and CEO. A Twin Cities native and Mounds View High School graduate, Thompson currently serves in the same role at the Oregon Symphony and will step into his new position in Minneapolis on Oct. 14.

Thompson’s appointment was announced Friday by board chair Nancy Lindahl, who cited his “bold, entrepreneurial spirit” and commitment to connecting orchestral music with broader civic life. The selection followed a national search and was led by a 14-member committee representing board, staff and musicians.

In addition to his extensive resume in orchestral leadership — including prior roles at the New York Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony and Milwaukee Symphony — Thompson serves on the boards of the League of American Orchestras and Minnesota Public Radio, where he is a trustee.

YourClassical host Tom Crann spoke with Thompson about the new role and the challenges and opportunities ahead for the organization.

Press play above to hear their conversation, or read a transcript below, edited for time and clarity.

Tell me about your early memories of hearing the Minnesota Orchestra and the impressions that made on you?

This appointment is deeply personal. I grew up in the Twin Cities, grew up in Shoreview, went to Mounds View High School, but my memories of music really go back to early childhood.

My parents are longtime subscribers to the Minnesota Orchestra, and they took me as a young kid, and I still remember distinctly one of my first concert experiences, and I saw Jorja Fleezanis, the former concert master, walk out on stage with her incredible style.

And from that moment, I said, I want to play with the violin. It was really the Minnesota Orchestra that was the kind of catalyst for my interest in symphonic music. So it’s deeply meaningful to be returning at this point.

Tell me about the Minnesota Orchestra as an organization. What do you think it does well in this space?

The quality of the orchestra is remarkable, and it has been remarkable for generations. I think what I’m excited about is how the Minnesota Orchestra in recent years has really developed a deep connection to the community in their programming, in the ways in which orchestra musicians have really reached out into various aspects of the community.

And I look forward to continuing that work and deepening the connection of the Minnesota Orchestra, not only to the Twin Cities, but to the rest of the state.

There’s been a report of almost a $4 million deficit for the Minnesota Orchestra in the last year, and budget deficits in the last five of the six years previous. Tell me about the financial health of this orchestra in times that are challenging for the arts for any number of reasons.

You know, I think with the pandemic, looking back a few years ago, there still is a moment of rebuilding audiences, rebuilding audience behaviors, bringing people back to the hall. I think the Minnesota Orchestra has done a terrific job of really getting people back to the hall.

The audience is there, and now we have to work on that philanthropic aspect of the work that we do. This is such an important institution, artistically to the community, it needs to be preserved, and we all need to work together to make sure that it is financially resilient and sustainable into the future.

OK, how do you do that?

Well, it’s going to be, you know, definitely aggressive fundraising. It's going to be building relationships with key funders in the community. It’s going to be certainly looking at different ways we can innovate our business model and different ways we can diversify revenue streams.

So it’s not just one thing that is going to solve, kind of the overall question of financial resiliency. It’s going to be a whole array of different levers that need to be pulled.

Many orchestras have been talking about making the orchestra experience more inclusive. Who’s actually doing it, and how do you do it?

When I think about equity and access, I really double down on the access part of it. It’s, how do we, as an institution, the Minnesota Orchestra, create a point of entry for every single person in the community to engage with great art and great music? And I’m reminded of the conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who I had the privilege of working with in New York.

He believes music is a fundamental human right. Bringing that into what we do as an institution at the Minnesota Orchestra is so important.

There’s an interview online I saw recently with the English conductor Simon Rattle, and he was talking about the composer, [Joseph] Haydn, and he said Haydn’s music is underrated, and it makes him happy he’s alive. What music makes you happy you're alive?

I have recently gone through a [Franz] Schubert phase. You know, it’s a miracle that this composer, who really lived only into his early 30s, had such an amazing output and such a deeply personal output. That is music that certainly makes me happy to be alive.

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