Meet President and CEO Isaac Thompson
When Isaac Thompson was named the Minnesota Orchestra’s new president and CEO in July 2025, it marked a homecoming. Born in the North Star State and growing up in Shoreview, Thompson’s early, formative music experiences occurred in Minnesota—from Mounds View High School to Orchestra Hall—but college and a growing career led him away. For two decades, he traversed the country in his work with symphony orchestras, most recently serving as managing director of the New York Philharmonic and then president and CEO of the Oregon Symphony.
Now Thompson is bringing big ideas and deep experience back to Minneapolis to lead his hometown orchestra. “We need music and art more than ever,” he recently told MinnPost. “The question for me is how do we view our programming expansively? How do we view the community in the most expansive possible way—so that there is a point of entry for every single person in our community to experience the beauty of classical music.”
We took a stroll back in time with Isaac Thompson to understand his roots—and to gain some insights on where the Minnesota Orchestra is heading.
How did you choose to play the violin?
My parents started me on piano when I was about 5 years old, and I immediately loved it. The music, the lessons—maybe not so much the practicing—but the overall experience was positive. I still recall at around age 6, my parents brought me to the Minnesota Orchestra, and I was totally blown away by the violin section and told them that I wanted to study violin, so they signed me up for a Suzuki violin program shortly thereafter!
You attended Mounds View High School—what was your niche there?
I was lucky to attend Mounds View, which had a terrific orchestra program led by John Madura. There were actually three orchestras: a freshman orchestra; a Symphony Orchestra for upper class students; and then a Chamber Orchestra, which was extracurricular and you had to audition for separately. (It rehearsed at 6:15 in the morning!) I loved participating in these ensembles, and the community of friends I made as a byproduct—with that in-school experience, supplemented with performing in the Minnesota Youth Symphonies, it was a very orchestrally-focused niche!
The late former Minnesota Orchestra Concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis was one of your violin instructors. What were some of your takeaways from time with Jorja?
The biggest takeaway I learned from Jorja, which was not limited to just violin playing, is to be curious in all facets of life. ”
Never just settle for the quick and easy answer, but really dive in and try and go deeper into whatever you are engaged in. I so admired Jorja for her insatiable curiosity, and how she brought that to everything she did—whether it was music, poetry, food, travel or relationships. I recall her once saying something to the effect of “you’re never going to learn everything anyway, so you might as well have a hell of good time learning what you can, and go deeper, than just hydrofoiling through life, which in the end, is pretty unsatisfactory.”
In one of your first professional roles—with the Milwaukee Symphony—you worked with former Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Edo de Waart. What did you learn from Edo about building an orchestra season?
Edo hired me when I was 25 years old with not a lot of experience, but we really hit it off from the get-go, and I learned a tremendous amount from him. At that point, Edo had been music director in San Francisco, Minnesota, Hong Kong, Sydney, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and many other orchestras, and had worked with some of the great artistic administrators in the field. Even with my inexperience, I think he enjoyed my youthful enthusiasm and love of music, and we just connected personally, and remain great friends to this day. I loved working with Edo because planning was always a dialogue—we would listen to music, talk about music, discuss ideas and over the course of time, programs would coalesce out of our discussions. It felt organic and was a great deal of fun. I think I learned that planning an orchestra season is not just slotting in puzzle pieces, but is best done when it is accomplished through robust artistic dialogue, and being able to construct, and then deconstruct over and over until you come to a really compelling and meaningful season. It is a tremendous responsibility!
In grad school, you opted to head down an administrative path rather than the performance route. Why?
I had studied violin performance for both my undergrad and graduate degrees and hoped to someday win a position in a major American orchestra. A mentor of mine at the University of Texas at Austin, Bob Freeman, who had served as the dean of the College of Fine Arts there, pulled me aside and said: “you know, you are a decent violinist, but knowing your personality type, I think you would be better suited to running an orchestra someday.” Bob sent me to Cleveland to meet with Tom Morris, who had run the Boston Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra, and I immediately became fascinated with this career path. While it was tough to hear that advice, I’m grateful to Bob for offering that clarity of thinking to me—as I very well could have still been auditioning for an orchestral position to this day!
You’ve worked at a lot of different orchestras all across the country. What kind of mindset did you need to have to adapt to different environments and priorities?
Orchestras are in many ways reflections of the communities in which they exist—and every community is different. It has been fascinating working in several different markets from Cincinnati to New York City to Portland, Oregon, and now here in Minneapolis. In my experience, adapting to these different places has meant really leaning into listening to a diverse array of stakeholders, both those who are close to the orchestra, and others in the broader community.
The more orchestras can understand the needs of the community in which they exist and be responsive to those needs, the more the orchestra can serve as a civic imperative, as opposed to a relic of the past. ”
It is challenging work, but essential as we envision the future of what it means to be an orchestra in the 21st century.
If you could have lunch with anyone...
I would love to have lunch with Isaac Stern. In addition to sharing his first name, I loved listening to his recordings growing up, and over time, learning about his role in saving Carnegie Hall from development, and mentoring young musicians across the world. He was a real ‘citizen-artist’ and I love that his impact was so multifaceted.
Favorite vacation spot in Minnesota? Anywhere?
My favorite spot in Minnesota, which we’ve been going to ever since I can remember, is the North Shore of Lake Superior. It is so gorgeous, and of course, full of memories. Further afield, I loved visiting New Zealand, particularly the South Island. The landscape, the food, the wine—it was all perfect.
