Isaiah Jackson

Isaiah Allen Jackson III (January 22, 1945 – December 24, 2025) was an American conductor and academic teacher. He was music director of the Royal Ballet in London from 1987 to 1990. From 2001, he served for seven years as conductor of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, as the first African-American to be appointed to a music directorship in the Boston area. He was a regular guest conductor for major orchestras in the United States, Europe, South Africa and Australia.

Jackson taught at Berklee College of Music, Harvard Extension School, and the Longy School of Music, among others. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Dayton for "orchestrating racial harmony and integrating music within the lives of the young". in a predominantly black neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia, the son of orthopedic surgeon Isaiah Jackson, Jr. and his wife Alma Alverta Jackson née Norris. Both of his grandfathers were physicians. His father prescribed music lessons for therapy, which he began at age 4, showing immediate dedication and aptitude. From age 14, he studied at The Putney School, a progressive, integrated and academically intense private boarding school near Brattleboro, Vermont, graduating in 1962. During his time there, he traveled with his high school class to the Soviet Union. He also took part in a picket of the local Woolworth's store in support of the lunch counter sit-ins that were happening in the South, for equality and equal access for African-Americans.