The 2023 Conference was somewhat unusual, as delegates elected members-at-large to fill four positions, meaning an entirely new slate of MALs. We asked each new member-at-large to provide remarks following their election.
Nicole Jordan, The Philadelphia Orchestra
Photo Credit: Jeff Rothman
For those that I was not able to address at our convening at the Milwaukee conference, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nicole Jordan and in my day-to-day job, you’ll find me navigating paper cuts and bowings, amongst other things, in my role as principal librarian of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Outside of that, I have the honor and the pleasure to have been elected by you to serve on the ICSOM Governing Board as one of your members-at-large.
Most days, you interact with us librarians in our natural habitats: surrounded by deadlines and stacks of music as we attempt to prepare materials for upcoming services and performances. From page turn fixes to transpositions; from music enlargements to helping you source that one arrangement you heard that one time at that one place, we, your librarian colleagues, are here. Serving as a member-at-large, I hope, allows for you to interact with me (and your fellow librarian colleagues) outside of that specific ecosystem and inside the one we collectively share in the workplace and within the musical community at large.
The same level of advocacy and championing that I do in my everyday job, at my home orchestra, is the same advocacy and championing I want to bring to the ICSOM community, and our industry at large. I look forward to getting to know as many of you as I can, and conversely, I look forward to you getting to know me as well. As we each navigate our unique environments within our individual workplaces, challenges can seem daunting, and even insurmountable. Negotiations can be personal. Change is not fast enough. And it can feel that no one else can—or wants to—understand our individual experiences. I assure you that is not the case. A challenge for one of us is a challenge for all of us and I look forward to the opportunity to work closely with as many of you as possible to overcome them!
Jessica Phillips, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Photo Credit: Miran Kim
I am excited to serve as a member-at-large on this year’s ICSOM Governing Board. It has been almost ten years since I first addressed the ICSOM conference in Los Angeles as the chair of the Orchestra Committee during the difficult negotiation for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 2014. Since that time, the support, resources, and educational content that ICSOM has provided for me, and other orchestras across the country, has been invaluable. This past year I finally jumped at the opportunity to be the ICSOM delegate for my orchestra, particularly now, as we navigate the road to recovery in the wake of two immense challenges—COVID and the social justice reckoning in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. We are facing myriad challenges, and it will take the dedicated work of a fully-aligned community to tackle these issues over the next decade and beyond.
I bring a broad swath of experience to the Governing Board. My 20 years as a performer, my career skills classes for the next generation of musicians at Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music, as well as my participation on two other boards—the Executive Board at Local 802, and The Field, a membership organization that provides career development and fiscal sponsorship to aspiring artists all over the country. Additionally, last year I completed my MBA in Arts Innovation at the Global Leaders Institute. This degree has been vital for me, not just in re-thinking ways to advocate for the future of musicians’ livelihoods, but also in understanding how to champion the power of art in our society.
As a member-at-large, I aim to listen, empower, be a resource, and dig into the thorny problems we face—I know from long experience they are unique, tangled, and complicated. I look forward to learning from this Governing Board, and to bringing people from across the industry together in service of our great art form. I believe in the power of the profound conversations and relationships that are formed through ICSOM and at the yearly conference, and I applaud the past leadership of Meredith Snow and look forward to working with Keith Carrick and the rest of the Governing Board.
Rob Schumitzky, Pacific Symphony
Photo Credit: Pacific Symphony
I am honored to have been elected to serve on ICSOM’s Governing Board as a member-at-large. Having attended the most recent conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, it has given me tremendous optimism for the future of our orchestras. Being in the presence of delegates from so many of our esteemed orchestras was infectious. I’m convinced that, together, we can address and tackle all our complex issues. These past few years have seen us navigate our orchestras through the pandemic and now we find ourselves negotiating progressive contracts to get back to growth. This is a time of unusual challenges, especially with the slow return of our audiences. Even so, it’s an exciting time to reconnect with our communities by providing much needed live orchestral performances. Music is what we need when times are difficult and it’s exactly what we need for the positive moments in our lives.
Over the past fifteen years I’ve been an unwavering advocate for my fellow colleagues. As a newly elected member-at-large, one of my goals is to continue learning and to find creative ways to bring positive change to our industry. I also look forward to getting to know as many delegates as possible to gain a better understanding of the issues that other orchestras are facing.
Kim Tichenor, Louisville Orchestra
Photo Credit: Kimberly McClellan Woods
I am grateful and pleased once again to serve on ICSOM’s Governing Board, and look forward to devoting time and energy to the cause of musicians’ overall well-being.
The COVID-19 public health emergency caused unprecedented changes in our industry as we were forced to reimagine how we worked as symphony and opera musicians. In the wake of the pandemic, the rate of demographic change among our orchestras has markedly increased. Many of our newer members have scarcely had a chance to consider whether their orchestra’s CBA is competitive with other ICSOM orchestras in economics and working conditions—or even if it provides a living wage for the long term in their community. Further, the prevalence of smaller ensembles and non-symphonic projects, while useful during the pandemic, continue to affect the nature of our current work.
ICSOM has always provided an effective collective forum to learn from one another how we can improve our lives as artists in our communities and in the international orchestra world. We gather virtually and in-person throughout the year to inspire one another and learn what has been successful in our orchestras and what has failed. We literally delegate participants—delegates and Governing Board members—to represent their orchestras and build the kind of unity that will ensure the future of symphony orchestras—and the musicians, staff and board who make it—as pillars of our communities for generations to come.
