FEATURED MUSICIAN

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Courtney Secoy Cohen has been Principal Librarian with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra since the summer of 2011. Prior to her current position, Ms. Cohen served as Assistant Librarian with the SDSO, Assistant librarian with the Kansas City Symphony and Assistant Librarian with the Florida West Coast Symphony (now the Sarasota Orchestra). She began her music library career working part-time as needed in the Boston Symphony Orchestra library and the Tanglewood music Center library. During this time, she also became the first performance librarian for the Boston Conservatory.

An active member of MOLA: An Association of Music Performance Librarians, Ms. Cohen currently serves as the President for the 2022-23 season and hosted the MOLA annual conference in San Diego with the SDSO in 2017. She’s enjoyed serving on various committees throughout her years in MOLA, as well as acting as the Pops Resource Database Manager. Outside of work and MOLA, Ms. Cohen also acts as the personal librarian for Maestra Mei-Ann Chen.

Ms. Cohen is a graduate of Louisiana State University in oboe performance, where she studied with Linda Strommen, and the New England Conservatory of Music in oboe performance, where she studied with Laura Ahlbeck and John Ferrillo. She has performed with many orchestras, including the San Diego Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the Sarasota Opera, and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, among others. Ms. Cohen has also participated as an oboist in several music festivals, including the Tanglewood Music Center, the National Orchestral Institute, and the Chautauqua Institution, to name a few.

In her spare time, Courtney Cohen enjoys giving back to organizations and causes for which she is passionate. She serves on the Board of Directors for the San Diego chapter of the National Celiac Association and previously served on the Board of Directors for the Junior League of San Diego. She also enjoys experimenting with gluten free baking, reading, studying World War II history, spending time with her family, and playing the bagpipes.

Meet Courtney and learn a bit about the role of a librarian in a symphony orchestra. Watch the interview by scanning this QR code!