Discussion Panel

Karen Schnackenberg has been Chief Librarian of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 1990. Prior to that she was orchestra librarian and violinist with the New Orleans Symphony, Santa Fe Opera, Oklahoma Symphony, and Chamber Orchestra of Oklahoma City. She holds degrees in Music Education/Violin (Bachelors) and Violin Performance (Masters, emphasis in Baroque Performance Practice and Music Theory), with honors, from the University of Oklahoma. She also studied at the Aspen Music Festival and the Meadowmount School of Music. From 1987-1999 she was the classical music columnist for the International Musician, the industry’s trade paper for professional musicians. Karen is Vice President of the Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association (MOLA), a professional association of over 225 orchestras, bands, opera and ballet companies worldwide, and will begin her term as President at that organization’s first European conference in Zürich in April, 2006. Karen also currently serves on the Executive Board of the Dallas/Fort Worth local of the American Federation of Musicians and, in her spare time, is a free-lance violinist, an avid reader, an amateur photographer, and a hiker.

Marcia Farabee has served as the National Symphony Orchestra’s head librarian since 1986. She is a graduate of the Capital University Conservatory of Music in violin performance and music education. Prior to her library career, she taught strings for the Fairfax County (VA) public schools and played with the National Ballet, the Richmond Symphony, the NSO, and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra. Her professional performance experience includes symphony, ballet, opera, and musical theater. She currently serves as President of MOLA (Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association) and chair of the MOLA-Publisher Relations Committee. Marcia is married to a stage technician and has two adult daughters, one fabulous granddaughter, and three cats! She enjoys baking, gardening, sewing, and working with the Senior High youth at her church.

Nancy Nelson is principal timpanist of the Houston Ballet Orchestra and has served in this capacity for the past five years. Previous to that, she served as section percussion for 14 years.

Nancy is also principal timpanist of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and have held this chair since its inception in the mid 1990s. She has served on orchestra committees and negotiating committees of both orchestras, and is currently the ROPA delegate. Nancy has almost exclusively performed in pit orchestras since her career began in 1977, first touring with Houston Ballet for two years and then with Texas Opera Theater for ten years.

Nancy attended the University of Houston and studied with David Wuliger.

Stephen Mosher is principal bassoonist with the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra.

From 1992-1998 Steve was the National Ballet Orchestra delegate to the annual conference of the Organization of Canadian Symphony Musicians (OCSM) and was 2nd Vice-President of OCSM from 1999-2003. In addition, he served as Assistant to the Director of the Symphonic Services Department of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM Canada) from 1996-1998.

Steve represents the Toronto Musicians' Association at the Health and Safety Advisory for Live Performance in Ontario. The committee is a pan-industry board with representatives from labour, management, and the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

Harpist Ann Lobotzke received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honors from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. She continued her studies at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, receiving a Master of Music degree in harp performance.

Ms. Lobotzke is principal harpist with the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, and has played Second Harp for the Milwaukee Symphony since 1981. She has played for most of the city’s major arts groups, including Present Music, Bel Canto Chorus, Florentine Opera, Skylight Opera Theater, and the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra. She tours the country with flutist Linda Chatterton under the auspices of Allied Concert Services in the program The Romance of Flute and Harp.

She has played in the orchestras for many artists appearing in Milwaukee, including Luciano Pavarotti, Josh Groban, Johnny Mathis, Doc Severinson,, as well as the touring shows Chorus Line, Evita, South Pacific, The Producers, and Peter Pan. Other career highlights include the Milwaukee Symphony’s East Coast Tour appearances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and the orchestra’s historic Millennium Tour to Havana, Cuba.

Cynthia Babin Anderson is Associate Professor of Oboe and Music Theory at West Virginia University. She received her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, and her master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Her principal teachers were Ray Still, Joseph Robinson, and Thomas Stacy. She currently performs as oboe and English horn with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and Pittsburgh Opera Orchestras, as solo oboe and English horn with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Broadway Series Orchestra, and as Guest Principal Oboe with the West Virginia Symphony. She has also performed with orchestras in Italy, Mexico, and the Netherlands.