Board of Directors
Penny Van Horn, Chair
Kay Mabie, Vice-Chair
Nicholas Martin, Secretary
Gretchen Zook, Treasurer
John Aalbregtse
Christopher Allen
Elizabeth Buccheri
Pamela Bullock
Michelle Miller Burns
Mary Jane Drews
Mark George
Martha Gilmer
William R. Jentes
Blake-Anthony Johnson
David McNeel
Zarin Mehta
Stephen Potter
Gabrielle Solti
Frank Villella
Duain Wolfe
Owen Youngman
Director Emeritus
Mitzi Freidheim
In Memoriam
Valerie Solti,
Honorary Chair
Richard Gray,
Founding Director
Thomas B. McNeill,
Past Board Chair
Dietrich Gross,
Director Emeritus
The Board of Directors meets at least three times a year to direct the activities of the Foundation. It ratifies the work of the Artistic and Awards Committee in selecting each year’s Solti Fellow and the recipient of any Career Assistance Awards; oversees fundraising, in particular through the Foundation’s annual benefit dinner; and works to further the careers of its past awardees, often through partnerships with prominent arts organizations. Members include musicians, arts administrators, business and civic leaders, and educators, all of them dedicated to promoting excellence in music.
Meet our Directors - Michelle Miller Burns
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.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and Cece Smith, Chair of the Dallas Symphony Association Board of Governors, recently announced Michelle Miller Burns as the Ross Perot President & Chief Executive Officer. Burns will begin her tenure at the DSO on September 23, 2024.
Administrator
Fiona Queen
The Solti Foundation U.S.
1555 Sherman Avenue, Suite 310
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 269-9050
fqueen@soltifoundation.us
Publicist
Laura Grant
Grant Communications
Massachusetts – New York
(917) 359-7319
laura@grant-communications.com