About the Book
This volume contains two Open Access Chapters
Volume 1 of the two part collection Stories and Lessons from the World’s Leading Opera, Orchestra Librarians, and Music Archivists, explores the current trends and practices in the field of music performance librarianship. Featuring interviews and conversations from over twenty orchestra, opera, and ballet librarians and archivists working for some of the world’s leading performing arts and educational institutions from North and South America, this book is a helpful resource to librarians, and archivists who need to manage artifacts in a variety of situations in the world of performing arts.
For music and library science professors, this serves as a useful teaching tool or reference material by allowing students to gain a glimpse into the profession of music performance librarianship. Finally, this book functions as a unique and important reference tool for all students who are considering a career in music performance librarianship or a profession in archives in the world of performing arts.
Table of Contents:
Foreword: Maestro Riccardo Muti (Music Director, Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
Foreword: Patrick McGinn (MOLA President)
Foreword: F. Paul Driscoll (Editor in Chief, Opera News)
Introduction
Opera Ignites: Forging the Union between Librarians, Conductors, Répétiteurs, and Prompters in Arts; Hsu Wei-En
Chapter 1. Peter Conover, Principal Librarian, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chapter 2. Lawrence Tarlow, Principal Librarian, New York Philharmonic OPEN ACCESS
Chapter 3. Robert Sutherland, Chief Librarian (retired), The Metropolitan Opera (post-retirement interview)
Chapter 4. The Metropolitan Opera’s 50th Anniversary Gala: A Conversation with Robert Sutherland, Chief Librarian OPEN ACCESS
Chapter 5. Peter Clark, Director of Archives, Metropolitan Opera
Chapter 6. Joshua Luty, Music Librarian, Houston Grand Opera
Chapter 7. Shelley Friedman, Orchestra Librarian, Washington National Opera
Chapter 8. Jay Rozendaal, Coach/Accompanist and Orchestra Librarian, Seattle Opera
Chapter 9. Melisandra Dunker, Music Librarian, Los Angeles Opera
Chapter 10. Carrie Weick, Orchestra Librarian, San Francisco Opera
Chapter 11. Clinton F. Nieweg, Orchestra Repertoire Proofreader/Editor/Researcher, Principal Librarian (retired), The Philadelphia Orchestra
Chapter 12. Karen Schnackenberg, Principal Librarian, Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Chapter 13. Jesse Levine, Music Librarian, Personnel Manager, Production Manager, Handel and Haydn Society
Chapter 14. Kira Wharton, Chief Librarian and Historian, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band
Chapter 15. Kristen Butcher, Orchestra Librarian, The Glimmerglass Festival
Chapter 16. Lisa Dempsey Kane, Principal Orchestra Librarian, The Juilliard School
Chapter 17. Elaine Li, Orchestra Librarian, Curtis Institute of Music
Chapter 18. Mallory Sajewski, Head of the Fennell Music Library, Interlochen Center for the Arts
Chapter 19. Nick Jack Agliata III, Bassoonist and National Youth Orchestra of the United States Librarian Apprentice (2018)
Chapter 20. Jane Cross, Music Archivist, Music Division, Library of Congress
Chapter 21. Wayne Vogan, Music Librarian, Canadian Opera Company
Chapter 22. Lucie Brosseau, Music Librarian, Les Violons du Roy (chamber orchestra) and La Chapelle de Québec (chamber choir)
Chapter 23. Michel Léonard, Principal Librarian, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Chapter 24. Marcos Escalante, Orchestra Librarian, National Symphony Orchestra (Mexico)
Chapter 25. Maria Elisa Pasqualini, Music Library Manager, Municipal Theatre of São Paulo
Conclusion
About the Author :
Patrick Lo is currently serving as the Director, International Library & Cultural Services Consultancy, Ltd. From 2012-2018, he served as Associate Professor at the Faculty of Library, Information & Media Science, the University of Tsukuba in Japan. He earned his Doctor of Education from the University of Bristol (U.K.), and has a Master of Arts in Design Management from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a Master of Library & Information Science from McGill University (Canada), and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mount Allison University (Canada).
Robert Sutherland recently retired as the Chief Librarian at the Metropolitan Opera where he served from 1993 to 2020. Prior to joining the Metropolitan Opera, he served as the Principal Librarian at Canadian Opera Company and Principal Librarian of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He has served three terms as President of MOLA: An Association of Music Performance Librarians. In April, 2016 he was a featured speaker at the Music Performance Art and Neuroscience in Dialogue symposium in Tübingen, Germany.
Wei-En Hsu is Associate Professor at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and was awarded the Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in 2017. In recent years, Mr. Hsu has established himself as an early music specialist in Baroque opera and the art of recitative for pianists.Winner of the 2010 Los Angeles International Liszt Piano Competition, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from National University of the Arts, and Master of Music from The Julliard School and The Royal Academy of Music.
Russ Girsberger is the Librarian for the Naval School of Music in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is the author of A Manual for the Performance Library (Music Library Association Basic Manual Series); A Practical Guide to Percussion Terminology; Percussion Assignments for Band and Wind Ensemble; co-author of The Music Performance Library: A Practical Guide for Orchestra, Band, and Opera Librarians; Sourcebook for Wind Band and Instrumental Music; and co-editor of Insights and Essays on the Music Performance Library (all published by Meredith Music Publications). He has worked as a librarian with the United States Marine Band in Washington, D.C., the Percussive Arts Society, the New England Conservatory, and The Juilliard School.
Review :
I admire librarians’ work…they are a group of people who dedicate themselves to this artform. Musicians bring the music alive, but librarians keep the history of the institutions alive for the next generation.
This two-volume set is of high value for anyone who is interested in understanding how orchestras work... those who would like a glimpse of how orchestras and opera companies operate and the people who drive their success will glean a tremendous amount of information from this text. The result is a remarkably global and holistic view of a very specific field... this two-volume set will provide a valuable primer for those who are considering exploring this career path.
[...] a rich source of applied theory and practice that goes well beyond the subject specific-case studies in an area which has been under-researched until now.
Stories and Lessons from the World’s Leading Opera, Orchestra Librarians, and Music Archivists provides valuable information for those interested in learning more about performance librarianship as well as for those currently well into their career. Through the personal experiences of librarians of some of the world’s leading music ensembles, the reader is able to get a glimpse into the fascinating career of performance li- brarianship and how each librarian’s experience differs. This publication would be a great resource for any institution of higher education that offers a music program, especially those that have a music library, as well as for any institution that offers a master of library science degree.
