Laurel Diskin Email & Phone Number

As part of the team at the Brand Library, I have worked the reference desk at Brand and also taken shifts at other branches in the system, which have provided experience with reference, circulation duties, and event coordination. In-person services have been suspended for the past year due to the pandemic, so the Brand Team has focused on the weekly publication of a newsletter, for which a lot of us have written extensively. I've been providing reviews of library offerings and creating tutorials for "try it at home" art projects.

Walt Disney Studios

I assisted with daily operations and maintenance of the Disney Concert Library, which rents music to performing arts organizations all over the world. The rental library is comprised of single pieces, full-evening shows, and films played live to projection. I also worked for BTW Copying service, also located on the studio lot, in much the same capacity as I did for JoAnn Kane Music, helping to prepare music for recording projects.

Culver City And Glendale, Ca

JoAnn Kane Music Service is a music preparation business that supports the film industry. This company employs numerous skilled copyists, engravers, MIDI specialists and librarians to prepare the musical material that ends up in front of players for film, television, and album recordings, as well as live concerts. Because the business was born on the lot of the Fox Studios, the company amassed an impressive collection of film music – much of it from Fox – which was frequently rented out to performance organizations all over the world. In addition to working in the production area of the business, which takes the work of the copyists and engravers and produces the physical musical material used at sessions, I ran point on the rental library. I answered clients’ questions about the collection, produced contracts and invoices, supervised and assisted with the mailing and return process for rentals, and updated the cataloging and descriptions of the rental material on our website, which was run directly through FileMaker Pro.

Van Nuys, California

I assisted with the daily administration of the library. Duties included all standard office tasks (answering phones, typing communications, scheduling meetings, working closely with others in a team environment), circulation responsibilities such as answering product inquiries, creating quotes, creating agreements (contracts), stocking, shipping, and handling returns, and business responsibilities such as the creation of invoices. Management responsibilities included the supervision of the Rental Library Intern. The position provided in-depth experience with HLMSW software, Photoshop, Xerox MakeReady, and Finale. Alfred was an incredibly positive work environment. Aside from it being a privilege and an honor, I had a really great time (and a lot of fun) assisting Gary Rautenberg, the Manager of Library Content. :-)

Whittier, Ca

I helped prepare parts for the stands (marking bowings, cuts, etc.), and prepared and distributed practice parts for the strings section. I set up a centralized email system for electronic distribution of practice parts and communicated directly and effectively with the concertmaster and the rest of the string players to make sure that these parts were distributed to the players in a timely fashion to allow them time to practice before the first rehearsal.

Greater Los Angeles Area

In the Library: I assisted in the preparation of scores and parts for all members of the LA Opera Orchestra, various conductors (including resident maestro James Conlon), and all members of the LA Opera’s 60+ member chorus. My duties included the detail-oriented work of creating print masters (cleaning and darkening the originals to make for the best copies), copying and binding parts for orchestral use, editing music for printing and layout issues, notating any changes desired by the conductor during rehearsals and making those changes in the parts between rehearsals, interacting with orchestra members and choristers, assisting members of the Young Artists Program with locating and photocopying music as needed, and assisting Music Staff as needed. I provided reference and resource assistance for all employees of the Opera. I also digitized printed music for a print-on-demand system, designed for creating practice parts. For the Manager of CDS: I performed a variety of office-related tasks, including but not limited to: taking and making phone calls, secretarial work, data entry, complex filing (including the creation of our brand new one-to-one filing system for all employees), extensive use of Microsoft Office Suite and Adobe Acrobat. I also provided casting assistance, running “front of house” for audition sessions, keeping the process organized and running smoothly. I've gained invaluable knowledge about the casting process from the experience.

Los Angeles, Ca

Successfully coordinated with the General Manager and the Manager of Production and Education to create and maintain a functioning performance library for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. LACO was a fantastic organization to be a part of, and I was happy to make a contribution to the cause.

Breckenridge, Co

In the summer of 2012 I worked here as an intern; in the summer of 2013 I returned as the Assistant Librarian. In addition to my duties from 2012 in 2013 I gained experience working with rentals and acquisitions, specifically for Pops music.I had an absolute blast working with the NRO, and the rest of the staff (not to mention the musicians!) is an incredibly giving, wonderful group of people. I was unable to return for the summer of 2014 due to accepting a full-time, year-round position at the Los Angeles Opera.

I primarily worked for The Harmony Project's program at Alexandria Elementary School. The program at Alexandria runs three string orchestras: Orchestra Nova (a big feeder orchestra for the Harmony Project Hollywood site's Harmony Project Orchestra), Orchestra Pre-Nova (which feeds into Orchestra Nova), and Super Nova, an extra enrichment orchestra for O Nova kids, many of whom also participate in Alexandria's Junior Academy enrichment program. I had a dual role at Alexandria: on Saturdays, I coached in the orchestra rehearsal and ran two violin sectionals, and because of my orchestral librarianship background, I was the de facto librarian for all three orchestras, assisting with the acquisition of repertoire, creating print masters for parts and scores, keeping everything organized, and, kids being kids, running many, many copies.I started teaching for the Harmony Project in 2010, giving group classes during the week on violin and viola, and I had the good fortune in the 2012-2013 school year to teach for our Junior Academy, which runs on Monday nights. I taught basic music theory, history, and coached chamber music. Upon accepting a full-time position in August of 2013, I worked out an agreement with the Harmony Project so that I could continue to teach on Saturdays. And while I no longer teach regularly with this organization, I do occasionally get asked to sub for instructors on weeknights/weekends and it is always a rewarding experience.

I began substituting here in 2003, and since 2008 I have been employed as a regular faculty member. This program offers low-cost private lessons to children and runs Tuesday through Saturday out of a beautiful, historic settlement house in Boyle Heights.

Tujunga, Ca

I maintain and run three different levels of group violin classes, and I am working with the McGroarty center to implement a new system I have created. The idea is to run three levels of violin as year-long, 3-session courses that coordinate with the Suzuki books - Violin 1, Violin 2, and Violin 3. These three classes will run on an academic calendar (Fall, Winter, Spring), and the curriculum will be books 1, 2, and 3 of the Suzuki system. Additionally, we will have an introductory violin class rolling along every (or almost every) session, designed for absolute beginners, which teaches the necessary skills that students need before they can begin Violin 1.

Breckenridge, Co

From June to August of this year I processed scores and parts, created bowing masters, marked parts with bowings and cuts, created practice and performance parts, repaired music, maintained technology, communicated with rental agencies and publishers, inventoried music, verified accuracy of library holdings, prepared performance folders, distributed and collected music, and effectively communicated with artistic/operations, conductors, and musicians.It was a great summer. :-)

The Saturday Conservatory of Music is a non-profit music education program that began over 30 years ago at Cal State L.A., offering low-cost group music lessons to children. Since 2000, it has been operating out of the Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena. I taught violin here for almost 10 years. It was a great experience. :-)

Master Of Library & Information Science (Mlis)

Mm (Masters Of Music), Violin Performance

Teaching Credential, Spanish

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), Spanish Language And Literature

magna cum laude

Bm Music, Violin Performance

magna cum laude