David O'Fallon, who has been CEO of the MacPhail Center for Music since 2002, is leaving his post to become president of the Minnesota Humanities Center in St. Paul, effective November 1.

During O'Fallon's time at MacPhail, student enrollment more than doubled from 4,000 to 8,200 students, and the budget grew from $4 million to $8 million. O'Fallon also successfully completed a $25 million capital campaign, the first ever in the 100-year history of the music center. The music therapy program at MacPhail also saw significant boosts under O'Fallon's leadership, having gone from a handful to almost 1,000 clients.

During O'Fallon's tenure, MacPhail-an independent nonprofit organization-has become “the premier center for music education in the Upper Midwest,” MacPhail board Chairwoman Andrea Kmetz-Sheehy said in a statement. “MacPhail's programs, its leadership team and faculty, its committed supporters, and its financial position have never been healthier. We are poised to extend our reach to an even broader base of people, thanks in large part to the foundation that David helped build over the last eight years.”

MacPhail's directors are in the process of forming a succession plan and the process that will determine the organization's next leader, according to a MacPhail statement.

O'Fallon will fill a position previously held by Dr. Stanley Romanstein, who joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as president and CEO in May after serving nine years as president of the Minnesota Humanities Center.

“I believe that by engaging in the humanities we draw upon the best of ourselves and our cultures, we understand more fully where we come from and where we stand. That prepares us to actively create a strong democracy,” he said. “The humanities and the arts connect us and sustain us. Never before has this been more needed.”

Established in 1971, the Minnesota Humanities Center works directly with teachers, schools, and communities statewide to create more engaging and meaningful learning experiences. It also works with schools to make sure the curriculum connects with students from a variety of cultures, ethnicities, and experiences.

The Minnesota Humanities Center operates on an annual budget of approximately $4 million, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the State of Minnesota, corporate and family foundations, individual donors, and earned revenues.

MacPhail's mission is to promote lifelong learning through music. It has more than 160 teaching artists and more than 7,200 students. It provides instruction at 45 locations outside its downtown Minneapolis headquarters in more than 35 instruments and a variety of musical styles.