The family of Anner Bijlsma have shared the lamentable news of his death in Amsterdam last night at the age of 85.
Principal cellist of the Concertgebouw orchestra in the 1960s, he developed an interest in period performance and collaborated extensively with Frans Brüggen and Gustav Leonhardt. His recording of the Bach suites was the first on a period instrument. He founded a gut string ensemble Archibudelli with his violinist wife, Vera Beths.
The son of a violin teacher in The Hague, he won a Pablo Casals competition in Mexico at 25 and was destined for international fame.
It’s the opposite of a textbook response to crisis management:
From: “Johnson, Patricia” <Patricia.Johnson@curtis.edu>
Date: July 25, 2019 at 6:23:06 AM EDT
To: Undisclosed recipients: ;
Subject: Philadelphia Inquirer Article
NOTE: This e-mail and its contents should not be forwarded or shared. It is intended
only for your information.
Dear Curtis Alumni,
Earlier today, The Philadelphia Inquirer published an article online about an incident that
was alleged to have occurred at Curtis in the 1980s. This article will also appear in print
this Sunday, July 28.
We assure you that Curtis is committed to the safety, security, and well-being of our
students, staff, faculty, and audiences. We do not tolerate assault or harassment of any
kind and are proactive in efforts to create a safe and healthy campus environment.
Copies of current Curtis policies, handbooks, and other safety documentation is
available upon request.
If you are contacted by journalists for comment on this story, please refer them to me. If
you have any alumni-related questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Jason Ward
at jason.ward@curtis.edu.
Additionally, out of respect for all those involved, we request that you refrain from
discussing this matter publicly, online, or on social media.
Sincerely,
Patricia
__________________________________________
Patricia K. Johnson
Senior Director of Communications and Marketing
Curtis Institute of Music
patricia.johnson@curtis.edu
In today’s article about allegations of sexual abuse at the Curtis Institute, the Philadelphia Inquirer references an article that appeared on Slipped Disc six years ago at its former hosting site, a post which is now inaccessible. Happily, the text endures.
The article, by long-serving Curtis Dean Robert Fitzpatrick, was titled ‘When Curtis was known as the Coitus Institute’. The headline was mine, not the Dean’s, but the text is his and it remains as insightful and important as it was the day it was written.
Lara St John says it was the sight of this article that prompted her to take action over alleged abuse by her teacher.
The full text follows below.
A betrayal of trust: imitation is not always the sincerest form of flattery…
by Robert Fitzpatrick
It is a generally accepted fact that adults guilty of abusing those in their charge were very often the victims of such abuse from their own parents, siblings, teachers or even peers during their formative years. Psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, all have the same goal: the control over another person unable or unwilling to resist the onslaught of the person in power. Where and when did this sinister trend begin in music conservatories?
In my opinion, this longstanding tradition of abuse of students goes back, at least in part, to the establishment of the important European conservatories, most of which were founded in the 19th century or very late 18th (Paris opened in 1796). Possibly the most “European” of them was the St. Petersburg Conservatory, especially toward the end of the 19th century when the likes of Leopold Auer were guiding the destiny of some of the greatest violin talents that our profession has ever seen. His list of students reads like a Who’s Who of the violin world in the 20th century with Heifetz and Elman leading the charge. Psychological torture was often the byword there, especially during Auer’s lessons which were always public master classes performed from memory with a pianist. Other teachers of this era in St. Petersburg included Isabelle Vengerova (aka “Madame”) who taught Leonard Bernstein, Lukas Foss, Samuel Barber, and scores of others after she moved to America. Not the least among her students was Gary Graffman, who reports the following in his 1981 biography “I Really Should Be Practicing” concerning his lessons with Madame starting at age 7:
…but I was never particularly bothered by the Vengerovian storms that raged during my lessons. They were just a fact of life. After violent, dramatic scenes during which she sometimes picked up a chair and slammed it down on the floor to emphasize her displeasure, she would announce to my parents that there was no hope for me in any field of endeavor whatsoever. I think that what bothered her most was my imperturbability. “He does not listen, he will not listen. Whatever I tell him, however I tell him…kak sgoosi voda! Like water off a goose’s back!” she would scream into the phone to my mother so penetratingly that her voice was as clear as if it were originating in our own apartment.
I propose the following theory: students who were terrorized and/or abused by those in authority either imitate their abuser when they become adults and begin to teach, or, like Gary Graffman, take a totally opposite approach and become nurturing pedagogues in reaction to the horrors of their early musical experiences. It was Gary Graffman’s imperturbability and his understanding of the Russian ethic which saved him in this survival-of-the-fittest atmosphere. (NB: Graffman’s father, Vladimir, was Leopold Auer’s teaching assistant.) Leonard Bernstein, already 21 and a Harvard grad when he arrived at Curtis, studied with Madame Vengerova and seems to have survived the ordeal. (Please read the speech to the Curtis 50th Anniversary convocation in 1975 in his book “Findings” which recounts Bernstein’s bittersweet memories of his student days at Harvard and Curtis).
Physical abuse was also an occasional fact-of-life with the St. Petersburg generation that eventually found its way to America in the 1920s. Striking students or throwing things at them was a real, if infrequent, occurrence. Imagine the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia when it opened in October 1924 with Leopold Auer, Isabelle Vengerova, and for added exquisite terror, Carl Flesch on the faculty. Leopold Auer also served on the Juilliard School faculty in the late 1920s, exporting his brand of violinistic psychological warfare to New York City.
Female conservatory students were very rare in those days and the chauvinist male teachers, almost all products of the Euro-conservatory system, sometimes carried their aggressive educational strategies further to include sexual intimidation and worse toward their female pupils. It’s no accident that after Curtis (nicknamed “Coitus” by some in the 1930s) was open for a few years, the founder, Mary Louise Curtis Bok, insisted on small windows in the doors of all teaching studios, class rooms, and practice rooms. Mrs. Bok is said to have dismissed one senior faculty member and administrator (a name instantly recognizable to all) in the 1930s after his 15-year-old student became pregnant. According to a subset of my proposed theory, this tradition of the major private teacher as an omnipotent, infallible force capable of abuse was imported to the USA primarily by these St. Petersburg refugees.
Like the Catholic Church, music schools tended to sweep their dirty little secrets under the rug. Students were never willing to discuss the improper actions of their instructors because of fear of reprisal that could sink their career as a performer. In my opinion, the atmosphere began to change in the USA during World War II when a significant number of women were admitted to American conservatories to replace the young men called to battle (or at least to play in service ensembles), and then again during the Vietnam War era when there was a certain revolutionary spirit brewing in most institutions of higher education. But, as usual, music conservatories often lagged behind the changes in universities and colleges because of the “traditions” inherited from the “old school” with its roots in Europe, especially pre-revolutionary Russia.
The presumption is that sexual abuse in conservatories is instigated by dirty old men who have nubile female music students as their target. In fact, this power-play phenomenon knows no barriers of age, gender, or sexual orientation. The old stereotypes have given way to a more expanded model. What to do in the 21st Century to be sure that students, their teachers, and their supervisors understand the basic ground rules of a healthy teacher-student, student-teacher, student-student, and even teacher-teacher relationship in today’s wide-open and rapidly changing world? How did conservatories such as Curtis gradually deal with the societal changes that had engulfed them? The following elements are a possible list of suggestions for successfully avoiding and, when necessary, dealing with cases of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse based on common sense and personal experience after almost 30 years at a small conservatory of music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA).
A Board of Trustees (Governors) that is paying attention to the actual educational, cultural, and social life of the institution is an obvious requirement. This group of men and women exist primarily to support the mission of the conservatory by appointing a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who should be a musician or at least have a musical background, and who is charged with carrying out this mission. The Board also assumes total fiduciary responsibility for the school. From a U.S. Business Law and Taxes webpage: The term fiduciary refers to a relationship in which one person/group has a responsibility of care for the assets or rights of another person/group. (The term “fiduciary” is derived from the Latin term for “faith” or “trust”). This charge of faith and trust goes much further than simple financial matters. Trustees or Governors have the ultimate legal and moral responsibility for the school and can be held personally liable for transgressions. In the USA, all post-secondary institutions carry personal liability insurance for their Boards. In the case of large financial settlements resulting from lawsuits, the endowment and/or government support of the school could also be at risk. A Board of the highest ethical and moral standards is the sine qua non of educational institutions. The best music conservatories are those that have this solid and irreproachable foundation.
The Administration of a conservatory is hired by the CEO to carry out the mission and his or her personal vision for the institution in relation to the mission. There is usually a chief academic officer or dean to whom the entire educational apparatus reports. Conservatories vary in their actual administrative structure, but every leading school has a staff of professionals in the area of student services. In a conservatory, the emotional, psychological, and physical health of the students is of paramount concern. A resident or readily available psychologist, with access to psychiatric services with appropriate medical support, is absolutely required in today’s society. Musicians also need access to physical therapists and physicians who understand how to treat the injuries that often occur because of over-use and stress to the body by eager, aspiring professional musicians. Because prevention is worth a pound of cure, conservatories have the responsibility to inform students about proper practice procedures and audition preparation. Open discussions with counselors and visiting professionals regarding student health concerns including, but not limited to, drug use and abuse, sexual issues including harassment by adults and peers, and bullying with an accompanying discussion of suicide prevention.
The real lynchpin in any school is the Faculty; therefore the methodology of their selection must include complete research of the musical, educational, and legal history of each teacher. This is the responsibility of every search committee, the CEO, and ultimately the Board. The CEO and the chief academic administrator have the responsibility to monitor the progress of each new hire by working closely with department heads who should be visiting lessons, classes, and ensembles on a regular and sometimes unannounced basis. Faculty orientation and ongoing seminars for teachers should include the topics mentioned in the last sentence of the previous paragraph.
Parents of conservatory students are a topic worthy of a separate discussion but their role in support of their child or children in the school is critical. The conservatory must clearly define that role and set limits in order to allow a parent to become a partner in the musical education of their child and not and impediment to it.
Talented music students form a group at each school which is the ultimate raison d’être. The teachers have the obligation to identify the candidates with the greatest chance of success as a result of musical talent and personality suited to the difficult life of a professional performing musician. The administrators have the obligation to ensure the health and safety of the students as they pursue success in their field. The Board must be constantly vigilant for negligence or abuse on the part of the personnel from the CEO, the administration, the faculty, down to every employee who deals in any way with the young musician. I know of an example concerning a 17 year old female string player at a conservatory who complained to an administrator about the overly aggressive kisses and hugs of an elderly teacher at the end of each session, often in front of the student waiting for the next lesson. The result was that two senior administrators spoke to the teacher (one speaking, the other as a witness) and requested that the behavior cease because of possible misunderstanding by the student(s) and the danger of legal action if the parents of the student(s) took that approach to protect their child. I was told that the actions stopped from that time forward. The teacher was someone who was educated abroad in the great “Euro-Russian” tradition mentioned earlier.
A vital and active Alumni group is essential for providing professional, moral, and financial support to the conservatory. Students should have the opportunity to meet with graduates especially in their chosen field. The methods vary greatly from one school to another, but the goal is always to create a helpful, interested group of alums who are a vital resource to the future of the institution.
I write this paper to offer a checklist for others especially those who are administrators and teachers at troubled schools around the world. The school where I worked has made a lot of progress since the “coitus” (aka Curtis) days, and today has all of the above elements in place. There have been many success stories and, unfortunately, a few failures along the way. A great school learns to deal with both. Our reward is always to see and hear our former students leading happy and productive lives on the world’s stages and eventually in studios at conservatories teaching their successors. As I type these final words, a well-known tenor from Peru in his early 40s is singing a bit of Rossini on the radio. Knowing that I helped to provide a safe environment where his international career could blossom is the best reward.
[Caveat lector: every situation involving abuse is different depending on the individuals involved, the culture of the school, the laws of the city, state, or country, and the general moral climate of the moment. The basis of comparison here is a private music conservatory in the USA which functions primarily at the tertiary level but with a handful of younger students between 12 and 16 years of age. The greatest difficulties, in my opinion, occur in the secondary, residential performing arts specialist schools of which I know two in the USA: Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and Idyllwild Arts Academy in California and I do not personally know of unresolved issues involving abuse at either institution. The current cases in the UK at music specialist residential schools and at tertiary level colleges involve incidents that occurred mainly in the later part of the 20th century which are just now becoming public knowledge. I assume (and hope) that the current climate at these music schools has evolved according to the issues discussed above.]
Robert Fitzpatrick, dean, the Curtis Institute of Music (1986-2009).
The London Philharmonic Orchestra today announces the appointment of Edward Gardner as its next Principal Conductor, the first British Principal Conductor of the Orchestra since the late 1960s. Gardner will take up his position at the start of the 2021/22 season. His initial five-year contract will see him working with the Orchestra for a minimum of 10 weeks per season, including its London season as Resident Orchestra at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, on international tours and with the Orchestra’s many ground-breaking Education & Community programmes.
Currently Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Gardner first conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003 and has since returned for concerts at the Royal Festival Hall, Snape Maltings and Glyndebourne. Most recently he has conducted the Orchestra both in London and on tour in the United States. During the 2019/20 season Gardner will appear four times in London with the Orchestra and he will also open its 2020/21 season. Much in demand as a guest-conductor, Gardner’s recent seasons have included performances with the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Wiener Symphoniker and his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he returns in September to conduct Massenet’s Werther.
Edward Gardner said: “I’m thrilled to have been appointed Principal Conductor of the LPO. I worked with the Orchestra early in my career and I was quite overwhelmed by the brilliance and virtuosity of the musicians. Returning to the Orchestra recently I’ve felt a sense of pleasure and privilege working with this inspiring group of musicians and relished the passion and hunger the LPO brings to performance. I’m looking forward to our collaboration with huge anticipation and excitement.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer publishes an extensive article today, detailing claims by the violinist Lara St John that she was sexually abused by her teacher Jascha Brodsky and that her complaints were dismissed by the Dean at the time, and the institution as a whole.
St John maintains that Brodsky suggested she and her brother might lose their places at Curtis if she did not submit to his advances.
Three other students say Brodsky tried to kiss them. One entered a sexual relationship with him.
Curtis says it conducted an independent investigation of the case and took no further action. Brodsky died at the turn of the century, widely mourned as an influential, kindly and helpful teacher. Almost a dozen present members of the Philadelphia Orchestra were his students.
This research was conducted by Grunwald Associates. It is based on online surveys completed in November 2018 by 5,736 chorus participants and comparative surveys with a representative general population sample of 506 U.S. adults age 18 or older, and a separate representative general population sample of 600 U.S. adults age 62 or older.
That seems too small to be significant.
The 68th International ARD Music Competition is coming up in Munich in six weeks time.
The rounds this year are clarinet, cello, bassoon and percussion.
The organisers say there were 590 applications from 50 countries. By farf the highest number of entrants came from South Korea, followed by Germany and France. There were 171 applicants in the bassoon category, 166 from cellists, 153 in clarinet and 100 from percussionists.
pictured: contestant Min Suk Cho, co-principal cello in Hamburg Symphony
The Metropolitan Opera soprano Tamara Wilson dug in her heels at the Arena di Verona and last night refused to continue singing Aida in traditional dark makeup.
So how did that go?
In the small hours of the morning Tamara told us:
The show is over, it’s 1 am (the shows start at 9 here). I won the battle but lost the war. I did get the makeup lightened so I was still shades darker than my own skin but it wasn’t the pure black paint that it was to begin with. I had asked for sleeves but they didn’t add any. I’m hoping that was because it was so tight a turn around between the asking and the show. Maybe that will change for the 3rd show. I’m going to keep fighting.
Hey kids, become fluent in all languages because sticking up for yourself when no one understands you is extremely difficult. Learn from my mistake.
I’m going to answer everyone’s messages tomorrow but right now I’m going to sleep. I’m exhausted.
A post shared by Tamara Wilson (@tamara_wilson_soprano) on
Message received:
Saint Paul, MN (July 24, 2019) – The American Composers Forum today announces the 2019 Racial Equity and Inclusion Forum, a convening of artists, administrators, and advocates to discuss racially inclusive and equitable opportunities for creative musicians happening September 7, 2019 in Saint Paul, MN. Artists and artistic leaders participating in the panels include members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Patrick Castillo, Brent Michael Davids, Gabriela Lena Frank, PaviElle French, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Anne LeBaron, Garrett McQueen, Nicole Mitchell, Reinaldo Moya, Nirmala Rajasekar, and Dameun Strange. The forum is free and open to the public, but due to space limitations, RSVP’s are strongly encouraged. A livestream of the forum will be simultaneously available on the TPT website and ACF Facebook page.
American Composers Forum is a vibrant composer advocacy organization supporting thousands of creative artists annually across the country. Over its 40-year history, ACF has expanded from a Minnesota focus to national, and from classical concert composition to a spectrum of genres, envisioning its role as a connector for composers/creative musicians and the larger ecosystem. ACF President and CEO Vanessa Rose states, “We see an opportunity to affect the DEI conversations happening by giving a platform to the living creators of music. As storytellers, change agents, and creative individuals, artists provide unique and valuable perspectives on this issue. We hope this gathering will provide both ACF with critical feedback, ideas, and discoveries and our colleagues in the arts ecosystem seeking to make meaningful progress towards racial equity.”
Diversity and equity consultant Justin Laing has been engaged to work with ACF over the course of the year, including facilitating and consulting on this convening. Recognizing the continued dominance of white, European-based, music in the ecosystem we share, the goal of this convening is to encourage discussion and tangible action items…
The pianist has made a Chinese promo video for a brand of luggage:
