Jeff Rothman
Hello ICSOM colleagues! For those that I have not had the pleasure to address, my name is Nicole Jordan. In my day-to-day work life, I am principal librarian of The Philadelphia Orchestra. I spend my days sharpening pencils, fighting with photocopiers, putting Neosporin on paper cuts, and getting music prepared for my playing colleagues in the orchestra. I now have the distinct honor to serve you, the colleagues of 51 ICSOM orchestras, in the role of ICSOM president.
I am beyond humbled and honored to be able to stand for and serve you all in this capacity. The role is no small one and the shoes I must fill are large ones. For the last year in my role as a member-at-large, I watched Paul Austin, now president emeritus, in the role. His compassion, breadth of knowledge, and commitment to each member of every ICSOM orchestra is unmatched. I will miss working with Paul on the Governing Board (though I will never stop sending him gifs and memes).
Believe it or not, I did not have “serve as ICSOM president” on my bingo card. As a librarian, my modus operandi is “the right piece of music in the right place, at the right time, with the right person—and in case of the strings, with the right bowings.” That, as you can imagine, is beyond a full-time job (even before the conductor gets involved). My pathway to this role started because throughout my entire career, processes were not working fairly or properly and experiences I was having, to call a spade a shovel here, were both inappropriate and unacceptable. I traveled a road—first advocating and fighting solely for myself and later advocating and fighting for anyone I saw experiencing poor and unfair treatment, musician and staff alike.
In my first year as a tenured member of The Philadelphia Orchestra, my Local 77 officers—President Ellen Trainer and Vice-President Marjorie Goldberg—kept mentioning that I should run to become ICSOM delegate for my orchestra. (“Nicole, you are so organized.” “You’d be perfect for this.” And so on.) Besides my organization skills, I took an active role in my own orchestra’s workplace and culture—particularly as I advocated heavily for better work rights and protections as a librarian—as well as in my Local (serving on the IDEAS council, advocating for and volunteering to help with work actions for other groups in my city, and participating in organizing training). After mulling it over for the season, I decided to run for the delegate position and was elected to the role.
During my first year as delegate, I began to feel more empowered to make a difference in any spaces that I could. I spent the next year learning about ICSOM through my various duties, but through one fateful Zoom meeting in June 2023 with the ICSOM Governing Board, I started on the path of taking part in its governance. Following that Zoom meeting, the nominating committee approached me to run for one of four member-at-large positions at the upcoming August conference. I was unsure that I had the skills to serve in such a capacity and relayed as much, but after a conversation with Paul (who reached out to reassure me almost immediately), I decided to go for it.
My position as a member-at-large for the 2023–24 season allowed me to not only be in contact with so many colleagues across the different ensembles, but to also represent ICSOM in spaces outside of the obvious places. This past season, I participated in a panel at SphinxConnect in conjunction with the AFM and its other player conferences. And I also took the opportunity to speak with my fellow librarian colleagues at the annual Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association conference about the importance of advocacy of their roles within their organizations, how to enlist our playing colleagues to help that advocacy, and about bargaining language protecting librarians into the CBA (if they are lucky enough to be members of the bargaining unit). It is my hope that this advocacy will allow librarians to work with dignity and respect, and to lead to appropriate compensation for the hard work they are doing. I’ve had some really great conversations in various parts of our community, and I am looking forward to continuing them.
I detail my journey not because I am trying to highlight anything special about myself (in fact, I assure you that I am quite ordinary). I detail it to show that advocacy and working to improve our industry starts at an individual level and is possible, even when it doesn’t feel like it. We are currently at a crossroads in our industry that we have been stuck at for quite some time. Our musical community has confronted some extremely ugly truths the last few years, and we are starting to have some long-overdue, hard conversations about untoward behaviors and value systems that have thrived in this space for far too long. Every workplace, though, exists in its own ecosystem, so solving these challenges and growing cultures in which people thrive will be unique to each group. There is no one size fits all. However, I believe that the pathway to addressing the significant challenges we face in our shared community starts with each of us being the changes we want to see in our workplaces.
One does not need a title to make a difference. We are each part of a whole—individuals coming to our respective halls each day to collaborate and make something beautiful together. Every colleague plays a pivotal part in what happens on the stage as well as off it, and change requires all of us—every single person—in our home orchestras working towards it. Each of us deserves a place where we can show up as our authentic selves and feel safe and respected. However, no amount of policy or written rule imposed or recommended by any governing body alone—elected, self-appointed, or otherwise—can simply provide that. It requires all of us individually, even if it makes us uncomfortable or unsure, to do our part and hold ourselves, and one another, accountable. Change is both hard and slow, and when not happening as quickly as we like, oftentimes can be frustrating. I have no delusions that the changes we look for will be easy, but I am committed to being here in the trenches—fighting with you and for you—as both your president and your colleague. I look forward to what we can do together, in solidarity.
