An NEC insider has sent us this disturbing report:

Just before the Youth Philharmonic’s concert at the end of last week, the first 
without Benjamin Zander, the orchestra had a question-and-answer session with an administrator from NEC. The administrator’s answer to essentially every question posed by the students was “It is for your health and safety.” 

This answer was given, for example, to someone who asked why Zander 
couldn’t have been allowed to conduct the upcoming concert, which he 
had planned and rehearsed with the orchestra. 

It may well be that NEC officials are under legal constraint and unable to say anything substantive about the shameful dismissal of a respected teacher and conductor. But the formula they have adopted is an outright lie and a serious defamation. Zander was not fired for health and safety reasons. The notion that he could have been a risk to anyone is absurd. If students at the NEC cannot trust what their administrators tell them, they will soon consider moving elsewhere.

See here for the full story so far.