The Dallas Symphony Orchestra named a new leader Friday. Michelle Miller Burns will take over as the Ross Perot President & Chief Executive Officer.
Burns is currently the CEO and president of the Minnesota Orchestra. But she’s no stranger to Dallas or the orchestra here. She worked with the DSO from 2015 to 2018, first as a vice president, then as interim president and CEO.
“I am delighted to return to Dallas to lead this incredible organization,” said Burns, in a statement. “The DSO is where I first stepped into a senior leadership role in the orchestra field, and this is an organization and a community that I love.”
In Minnesota, Burns created a plan to increase revenue for the orchestra, reorganized the leadership of its summer festival and launched This Is Minnesota Orchestra, a TV, livestream and radio series that won an Upper Midwest Emmy Award in 2022, according to the statement from the DSO.
“We know that with her depth of experience in the orchestra field, her very successful tenure with the Minnesota Orchestra and her deep ties within the Dallas community, Michelle will continue the momentum of the DSO,” Cece Smith, Chair of the Dallas Symphony Association Board of Governors said in a statement.
Burns replaces Kim Noltemy, who announced she was leaving two months ago to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Burns starts work on Sept. 23.
