“The Portland Symphony Orchestra is hiring from within to fill its executive director’s position,” reports Bob Keyes in Tuesday’s (9/1) Portland Press Herald (Maine). “The orchestra announced late Tuesday afternoon that Carolyn Nishon will be promoted from general manager to fill the position vacated by Lisa Dixon French. Nishon will start her new job on Monday. The orchestra bid farewell to Dixon with a party on Tuesday evening. Board president Harper Lee Collins cited Nishon’s knowledge of the orchestra and her experience as key factors in the promotion. Nishon, 30, joined the PSO in 2008, and has served as artistic administrator and orchestra manager, director of artistic operations, interim executive director and general manager. She has participated in two rounds of contract negotiations with musicians and helped hire an assistant conductor. She also participated in the orchestra’s strategic planning process, and managed the orchestra’s $2 million budget.” Nishon is a 2008 graduate of the League of American Orchestras’ Orchestra Management Fellowship Program, and was “among 48 nonprofit leaders selected for the American Express Non-profit Leadership Academy…She earned bachelor’s degrees in English and psychology from the University of Michigan, where she served as executive director for the University of Michigan Pops.”
Posted September 2, 2015
Carolyn Nishon photo courtesy of the Portland Symphony Orchestra
