Michelle Miller Burns has been President and CEO of the Minnesota Orchestra since 2018. Under her leadership, the Minnesota Orchestra launched a multi-year revenue growth plan to increase both contributed and earned revenue for the organization; unveiled a new leadership model for its long-running summer festival and launched This Is Minnesota Orchestra, a multi-channel series bringing the Orchestra to audiences via TV, livestream and radio that was honored with an Upper Midwest Emmy Award in 2022. During her tenure, the Minnesota Orchestra developed a visionary strategic plan that reimagines the role of an orchestra in its community. In 2022 Burns negotiated a new agreement with Orchestra musicians that extends until 2026 and, following an extensive search, announced Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård as the Orchestra’s 11th music director in September 2023. Prior to her tenure in Minnesota, Burns was the DSO’s Interim President & CEO and the Executive Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Chief Operating Officer.

Burns began her orchestral career in the administration of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where she held a number of positions over 15 years, including Director of Planned Giving. In 2006 she was named Vice President for Development at the Newberry Library, an independent research library for the humanities in Chicago.