Conversations with the World's Leading Orchestra and Opera Librarians: : Patrick Lo: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Conversations with the World's Leading Orchestra and Opera Librarians

Description

This book is based on a series of informative interviews with a number of music librarians working for different leading symphony orchestras and opera companies throughout the world. In these interviews, librarians share with the readers what kind of professional skills, knowledge and personality that are required to supply music to the performers onstage, as well as information to these world-famous performing arts organizations.

Interviewees also discuss in details about their professional lives, i.e., including their personal stories and working relationships with various legendary conductors and star soloists, e.g., Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, James Levine, Donald Runnicles, Bernard Haitink, Zubin Mehta, Sir Colin Davis, etc. Via the interviewees’ stories, one can also get a glimpse of the different inside operations and the unique management styles behind the backstage of these internationally renowned performing arts organizations.

There are fourteen conversations including interviews with the Chief Librarian at the Metropolitan Opera and the Orchestra Librarians at the San Francisco Ballet, the Berlin Philharmonic, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Foreword by Maestro Fabio Luisi
Preface

Chapter 1: Robert Sutherland, Chief Librarian at the Metropolitan Opera
Chapter 2: Robert Sutherland, When the Metropolitan Opera Goes on Tour
Chapter 3:Matthew Naughtin, Music Librarian of the San Francisco Ballet
Chapter 4:Ronald Whitaker, Former Orchestra Librarian of The Cleveland Orchestra
Chapter 5:Alice Chatterjee-Rieckhoff, Orchestra Librarian of the Berlin Philharmonic
Chapter 6:Benjamin Gould, Librarian of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra
Chapter 7:Jutta Lambrecht, Archive Director of the Department of Documentation and Archives, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) Cologne
Chapter 8:Lauré Campbell, My Forty-One Seasons with the San Francisco Opera
Chapter 9:Carrie Weick, Orchestra Librarian at the San Francisco Opera
Chapter 10:Kazue Asawa McGregor, Kenneth Bonebrake and Stephen Biagini, Librarians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Chapter 11:Katsu Watanabe, Akane Oki, and Yasushi Ishii, Librarians of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo
Chapter 12:Tony R

Product details

Published	07 Jun 2016
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	294
ISBN	9781442255425
Imprint	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Illustrations	33 b/w photos; 19 textboxes;
Dimensions	237 x 159 mm
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Reading these informative and often fascinating interviews conducted by Lo with librarians employed by orchestras, opera and ballet companies, and individual singers located in the US, Europe, and Asia does much to dispel the notion that performance music librarians merely inventory scores and parts, distribute and collect them before and after rehearsals and performances, and mark conductors' performance indications. A librarian in charge of performance music must be especially flexible and versatile, since last-minute changes are often necessary. These specialist librarians must also order orchestral scores and parts (so thorough knowledge of different editions is obligatory), and occasionally they compose passages linking one section to the next and even provide transpositions of arias to different keys. Librarians may function in the background, but their contributions are essential for successful performances….

Summing Up:Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through professionals/practitioners.

Choice Reviews
Lo’s primary audience for this book—new music librarians and graduate students in library and information science—can discover the benefits and challenges of this career path thanks to the thoughtful conversations with the interviewees…. [Lo’s] discussions with the orchestra and opera librarians prove to be relevant and illuminating…. Through the stories told here, one can only respect and admire the work by these performance music librarians.

Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association
In the amount of space allotted for reviews, it is not possible to individually quote all the fascinating interviewees covered by this book. Those who are curious about behind-the-scenes preparations, or looking for a different slant on a career, will find the range of viewpoints and experiences to be of considerable interest. It should open many eyes to the important role these individuals play in the success of the performing ensemble.

Fontes Artis Musicae
This book is recommended for anyone interested in a career in performance librarianship, as well as professional musicians, conductors, and arts administrators that work with performance librarians. It would make a great addition to any college or conservatory library collection.

Music Reference Services Quarterly
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Patrick Lo’s insightful interviews offer a glimpse behind the stage door and into a little-known profession—that of the music performance librarian. Yet it is these musicians who are essential to every performance that takes place on the stage, in the pit, or at the concert hall.

The knowledge shared by these consummate professionals will be of interest to conductors, composers, and performers alike, as well as anyone who enjoys behind-the-scenes stories of life in the musical arts.

There is much here to learn and appreciate. I will be reading it again and again.

Russ Girsberger, Librarian, U.S. Naval Music School and Honorary Member, Major Orchestra Librarians' Association
Conversations with the World’s Leading Orchestra and Opera Librarians is a wonderful window into a little-known and less-understood niche of the library world except for its practitioners. I highly recommend the book to lay people and professionals alike who will find themselves fascinated by the unique, challenging and rewarding life of the music performance librarian.

Karen Schnackenberg, Principal Librarian, Dallas Symphony Orchestra