The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Singer David Daniels is accused of drugging and raping a young opera singer
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By Jacob Stockinger
More allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault keep emerging from the world of classical music, even as the #MeToo movement is again in the headlines with accusations and denials about the movie star Asia Argento having sex with a minor.
The latest allegation is an accusation by a young opera singer who says that in 2010 he was drugged and raped by David Daniels (below), who is world-famous as a countertenor and who teaches at the University of Michigan, where he is now on leave.
Included in the allegation is Daniels’ husband Scott Walters, who is a conductor and who is accused of participating in the drug and rape incident.
Here is a well-researched and well-reported story from National Public Radio (NPR):
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/22/640945881/opera-singer-david-daniels-accused-of-rape
And here is a link to the story in The New York Daily News, the newspaper that first broke the story. That version also has photos of the accuser and Scott Walters.
Tags: #AsiaArgento, #DavidDaniels, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MetropolitanOpera, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewYorkCity, #OperaMusic, #OperaSinger, #OperaStar, #OrchestraConductor, #Same-sexmarriage, #samesexmarriage, #SantaFeOpera, #ScottWalters, #SexualAbuse, #SexualAssault, #SexualHarassment, #SexualMisconduct, #TheMet, #TheNewYorkDailyNews, #UniversityOfMichigan, #World-famous, accusation, allegation, Arts, Asia Argento, Baroque, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, conductor, countertenor, denial, drug, drugged, Early music, film, George Frideric Handel, headlines, husband, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, minor, movie, Mozart, Music, New York City, Newspaper, NPR, opera, photo, rape, raped, reporting, research, Same-sex marriage, Santa Fe Opera, sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, singer, star, symphony, the Met, The New York Daily News, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, Wisconsin, world
Classical music: James Levine has been fired by The Met for sexual abuse. Plus, “Pulcinella Re-Imagined: An Evening of Music by Mr. Chair” will be performed at The Mineral Point Opera House this Friday night at 7 p.m.
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NEWS ALERT: James Levine was fired Monday night by the Metropolitan Opera for sexual abuse.
Here is a link to a story in The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/arts/music/james-levine-metropolitan-opera.html
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has been asked to post the following announcement:
“Pulcinella Re-Imagined: An Evening of Music by Mr. Chair” will be performed at The Mineral Point Opera House this Friday night at 7 p.m.
The Opera House is located at 139 High St. in Mineral Point.
Based in Madison, Mr. Chair (below, in a photo by Ryan Gilman) is a multi-genre group that plays a mix of rock, jazz, modern classical and improv-based styles.
This show will feature an arrangement of Igor Stravinsky‘s “Pulcinella” ballet as well as original music. It features beautiful, hip and surreal textures from whispering lyricism to thunderous wails in a gorgeous, historic theater. (You can hear the original version of “Pulcinella” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Members of the groups are UW-Madison professor Mark Hetzler on trombone, electronics; Jason Kutz on piano/keyboards; Ben Ferris on basses; and Michael Koszewski on drums
The concert will feature a special appearance by dancer/choreographer Amy Ryerson (below top) and narration by Buzz Kemper (below bottom).
Tickets can be purchased at the door or through BrownPaperTickets at https://m.bpt.me/event/3341686
Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for students and under 12 (at the door)
The program includes:
- “Mile of Ledges” 2. “Correction” 3. “Freed” 4. Three Views of Infinity, Mangalore to Bangalore Express”
Intermission
“Pulcinella”
Tags: #IgorStravinsky, #JamesLevine, #JazzMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #MineralPoint, #MineralPointOperaHouse, #MrChair, #NewYorkCity, #RockMusic, #SexAbuse, #SexualAbuse, #TheNewYorkTImes, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, Arts, ballet, Baroque, beauitufl, Chamber music, choroegrapher, Classical music, composer, conductor, dance, dancer, director, fired, Friday, genre, hip, historic, Igor Stravinsky, infinity, Jacob Stockinger, James Levine, Jazz, lyricism, Madison, Metropolitan Opera, modern, Music, narrator, New York City, New York Times, Orchestra, Peter Gelb, Piano, Pulcinella, sexual abuse, style, Suite, surreal, symphony, texture, the Met, The New York Times, theater, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, view, wail, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Acclaimed conductor Charles Dutoit cancels concerts and loses orchestra affiliations amid allegations of sexual assault
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By Jacob Stockinger
The scandal of sexual misconduct — ranging from discomfort and harassment to abuse and rape – keeps mushrooming.
Now Swiss-born conductor Charles Dutoit (below), who won multiple Grammy awards and led the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra for many years, has been accused of sexual assault by three opera singers and one musician.
One of the accusers is soprano Sylvia McNair (below), who has performed in Madison with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. The other three have remained anonymous.
So far, Dutoit has not responded to the allegations. But as a result, the 81-year-old has seen the cancellation of concerts later this winter and spring with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.
In addition, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, where he is artistic director and principal conductor, have also severed ties with Dutoit.
Here is a link to the story from the BBC:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42452715
And here is a story from The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/arts/music/charles-dutoit-sexual-misconduct.html
And here is a link to the original story by the Associated Press:
https://apnews.com/278275ccc09442d98a794487a78a67d4
In classical music, longtime Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine was the first big name to be caught up in the current sexual misconduct allegations. Levine was accused of sexually abusing teenage boys who were apprentices.
And here is a link to the story in The New York Times about Metropolitan Opera artistic director and conductor James Levine:
Given the egotistical reputation of so many conductors and the patriarchal, authoritarian nature of the “maestro culture” of many performers and teachers, The Ear is sure that other names of important figures will soon emerge.
Who will be next?
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Classical music: Accusations of sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse expand to classical music, and former Metropolitan Opera maestro James Levine has been suspended. On Tuesday night, a percussion concert spotlights UW composer Laura Schwendinger
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ALERT: At 7:30 p.m. this Tuesday night in Mills Hall, the UW Western Percussion Ensemble, under director Anthony Di Sanza, will perform a FREE concert. It will focus on a new work by the award-winning UW composer Laura Schwendinger along with other modern classics and new works. For more information about the group and the program, go to: http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/western-percussion-ensemble-4/
By Jacob Stockinger
It started in Hollywood, quickly spread to politics and Washington, D.C., as well as to journalism and to radio and television.
Now accusations of sexual harassment, sexual abuse and sexual discrimination are focusing on classical music.
Perhaps the most visible case so far is one that focuses on James Levine (below), the former longtime artistic director and conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, who just this past weekend conducted a live broadcast performance of the Requiem by Verdi, which was dedicated to the recently deceased Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
Levine is accused of abusing an underage teenager while he was at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, and the Met says it will investigate that allegation.
Through Google, you can find many reports about the situation.
Here is a link to a comprehensive story in The Washington Post:
UPDATE: Amid more allegations of sexual abuse, James Levine, 74, has been suspended by the Metropolitan Opera. Here’s a link to a detailed story in The New York Times:
But Levine is not likely to be alone.
According to a new study in the United Kingdom, it now looks that many more individuals and groups will be involved since sexual harassment and sexual discrimination were found to be “rampant.”
Here is a link to the story in The Independent:
What do you think about the many current scandals and wave of allegations as they pertain to classical music or to your own experience in the field of music, either performance or education?
The Ear wants to hear.
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