The Portland Symphony Orchestra is hiring from within to fill its executive director’s position. 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.

In a brief phone interview Tuesday afternoon, Nishon said her top priorities are keeping the orchestra on solid financial footing and connecting musicians with the community. “I really believe in the mission of the PSO, which is enriching lives through music,” she said. “That is a guiding principle for me each day that I come to work.”

In a statement, artistic director Robert Moody called Nishon “one of the truly indispensable administrative persons in our business. I can think of no one better able to carry on the continued great leadership of this organization than Carolyn. I am immensely happy for her, for me, and for the PSO.”

This spring, Moody announced he would remain in his job through the 2017-18 season, when his contract expires. Finding Moody’s replacement will be among Nishon’s major tasks in the years ahead.

Nishon has spent her professional life in the arts. She completed the League of American Orchestra’s Orchestra Management Fellow program, a yearlong program, during which she worked at the Aspen Music Festival and School, the North Carolina Symphony, the Spokane Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She was among 48 nonprofit leaders selected for the American Express Non-profit Leadership Academy.

She also is a member of the steering committee for Creative Portland’s 2 Degrees Portland initiative.

She earned bachelor degrees in English and psychology from the University of Michigan, where she served as executive director for the University of Michigan Pops Orchestra.

She lives in Portland.

 

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