Civic Library Fellowship Alum Q&A: Hitomi Sipher

September 24, 2024 Emily McClanathan ‹ 5 min read

Hitomi Sipher was the Civic Library Fellow from 2004 to 2007.

Courtesy of Colorado Symphony

Founded in 2000, the Civic Library Fellowship offers aspiring orchestra librarians up to three years of professional development. Fellows benefit from the mentorship of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra librarians, and the role comes with the full responsibility of serving as the Civic Orchestra of Chicago’s librarian.

Among other duties, an orchestra librarian researches publishers and editions, purchases or rents scores as needed, communicates with conductors and soloists, checks parts for publishing errors, hand-marks bowings for string players, makes sure that each player’s part is organized in the same way, distributes the music, marks any changes made during rehearsals and sets the conductor’s scores onstage during concerts.

Alumni of the Civic Library Fellowship have gone on to work for prominent orchestras and performing arts organizations across the United States. Hitomi Sipher, who was the Civic Library Fellow from 2004 to 2007, reflects on her experience in the program in the following Q&A.

Could you describe your career path since your Civic Library Fellowship?

I was the assistant librarian with the Grant Park Music Festival in 2005-2007 (I started when I was still with the Civic). I was appointed as the principal librarian of the Virginia Symphony in 2007. I also served as the librarian with the YOA Orchestra of Americas (Chile tour 2012), Metropolitan Opera (Japan tour in 2011) and the Boulder Philharmonic in 2016 and 2018. I joined the Colorado Symphony as the assistant librarian in 2018.

How has the Civic Library Fellowship impacted your career?

The Civic Orchestra has made so many young musicians’ dreams come true, including mine. My experience at the Civic Orchestra really prepared me to be a professional librarian, and I learned how to run an orchestra library and how to serve fellow librarians and conductors with a great confidence. I am forever grateful for my mentors from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — Peter Conover, Carole Keller and Mark Swanson.