Cleveland’s sacked violist has his say
NewsMark Jackobs of the Cleveland Orchestra has responded in dignified fashion to his peremptory dismissal by the turbulent Cleveland Institute of Music. Here’s what he writes:
Since Wednesday I have been deluged with messages ranging from concern to outrage and I would like to answer questions, dispel rumours and share my feelings about the situation.
For those who have not heard, I am no longer with the Cleveland Institute of Music.
The following are answers to questions that have been raised:
– No. There was no reason given for my separation.
– No. There was no Title IX accusation, violation or
investigation. Never has been in my entire career, never will be.
– No. There was no accusation of illegal or unethical behavior on
my part. Again, never has been, never will be.
– No. This was not done face-to-face. On Wednesday March 13, I
was met at my home by a courier who delivered a “separation
agreement”.
– No. I am not able to finish the semester. This is particularly
hurtful as it leaves my current students abandoned
mid-semester, mid-recital season and mid-orchestral audition
season. If the administration’s goal was to hurt me, fine.
However, to hurt my students like this when they need me the
most is an unforgivable act by CIM administration.
I have faithfully served CIM for 31 years. During that time I have taught 63 students of which 57 are now either professional musicians (50), or are currently in music school (7). My record of success, teaching and mentoring young musicians, speaks for itself and it has been my honor and privilege to have been their teacher.
Serving 2 years as Faculty Senate Chair and otherwise being an active advocate for the students and faculty, naturally there were disagreements with the administration. What I felt was right and fair for students and faculty often was in conflict with cost cutting measures that the administration felt were necessary. I voiced my concerns for the Institute and that resulted in several occasions where I was accused by human resources of disparaging the school. The recent 91% vote of no confidence in CIM’s current president by current faculty would indicate that I was not the only faculty member with serious concerns. Without any official reason given, I can only imagine that my separation has to do with me voicing my opinion when I believed that either the students or faculty would be hurt by various actions taken by the administration.
I have also been with the Cleveland Orchestra for 31 years. The relationship between the number one orchestra in the world and CIM historically has been very strong and a clear draw for prospective students. Unfortunately over the last 8 years we have seen this relationship decline. Instead of an increase in partnership and collaboration between CIM and the Orchestra, many of us have been disrespected and dismissed by the current administration and 4 Orchestra members are no longer at CIM. This is heartbreaking; as the key differentiator for CIM has been the previously strong relationship with the Orchestra.
My heart breaks for my students who have been left hanging and for their parents who, having spent significant amounts of money, are seeing that they are not getting what they had hoped from CIM.
All of my students know this, but those who would like to reach out for pre-recital or pre-audition lessons, I will make myself available.
I am sorry that CIM did this to you and I am sorry that they did this to me but I know that none of us will let our success in the field that we love be hampered by what has happened.
Very eloquent. Very sad.
So unfair.
CIM is done.
Shameful treatment of a great musician. But, I do wonder how he only had 63 students in 31 years. Something is very bizarre about those numbers.
Do bear in mind he is a full time player with The Cleveland Orchestra which will have a bearing on how many students you can have. This is the norm in most music conservatoires.
2-3 students a year seems normal to me for a conservatory at that level. My teacher at Juilliard had a policy of no more than 3 students a year.
See my reply to Singeril above.
Thats a lot of violin teachers.
Not necessarily. That could have been his job. To work with one or two students at a time.
If you do the math and call them four-year students, then there are about eight four-year terms in 31 years, or roughly eight students at any given time. That’s actually quite a few for an adjunct faculty. Assuming some might be two-year grad students, it could be a bit less.
And CIM says…..?
Nothing. Not. a. word.
…the less the better, probably.
A gracious statement thanking Mr. Jackobs for his decades of service would obviously be disingenuous under the circumstances, especially from the gang in charge at this organization, and the last thing they need is a defamation suit or scrutiny of the legality of the reasons for his termination. That would cost them much more than simply paying out Mr. Jackobs’ contract, keeping their mouths shut and hoping they can ride out and survive the current storm.
The mid-semester/no cause timing is so bizarre. 63 students in 31 years- is he part time?
Yes, of course he is part-time. He is a full-time member of the Cleveland Orchestra.
This is also why it was possible if stupid and morally repugnant to fire him mid-semester. No tenure.
Not sure why your comment got shelled – I agree that it’s bizarre.
My condolences. Your willingness to continue assisting your students is truly admirable. Overall, it just goes to show, one more time again, that college and university administrators should be elected by and be responsible to the faculty they are obligated to serve.
“The number one orchestra in the world…”. Hmmmm.
Well, I’ve never heard a more consistently excellent orchestra regardless of who was conducting, and I’ve heard them all over decades. I’d say they’re at least tied for first!
Are you aware of this orchestra’s, history and worldwide reputation? Yes, it’s CLEVELAND, but in this particular instance… do a little bit of homework, please.
My wife is the most beautiful woman in the world, to me anyway.
Cleveland is as good as any of the top European orchestras..
Lovely photo of… ?, one of his students?, and… Prof. Jackobs? Discretely placed photo credits and captions might be a useful addition to the SD site.
Right-click on the image and choose Open in New Tab. You will see three people. I’m guessing the two women are his wife and his daughter.
“Guessing” was, of course, the reason for my comment. My guesses, by the way, were different from yours. But it would be nice if “the classical music news site” actually provided this information.
Strong words. I wish he and his former students all the best. I hope that the Cleveland Institute hasn’t completely lost the plot
There is something a bit confusing here. Mr. Jackobs states the following:
“No. There was no reason given for my separation.
– No. There was no Title IX accusation, violation or
investigation. Never has been in my entire career, never will be.
– No. There was no accusation of illegal or unethical behavior on
my part. Again, never has been, never will be.”
Could it still be possible that an accusation or accusations were made but CIM simply decided not to inform him? If no reason was given. then how would he even be able to make the following two statements?
What nonsense! Ask yourself why you are trying to smear a man of good character.
“Could it still be possible that an accusation or accusations were made but CIM simply decided not to inform him?”
“Simply”? Okay, let’s list all the defensible reasons for proceeding in that way:
Your disturbing comment might be less off-base if we all weren’t aware of the dire situation at CIM.
I think I understand the confusion. If no reason was given, then how could Mr. Jackobs know that no accusations exist? Is there a law in the US saying that all Title IX related accusations must be disclosed to the target of the investigation?
Some clarity would be appreciated. I feel really bad for him. Parting with a teacher midyear and serving the party a separation agreement off-site normally indicates a serious matter. If the school took these severe measures over virtually nothing (e.g. an admin didn’t like the color of one of his ties), then the swamp at CIM needs to be drained.
The reason is simple. CIM envisions itself as a future Curtis Institute. Smaller student population and free tuition to those lucky to attend. Of course, with a smaller enrollment, you need to trim faculty and related costs. Will CIM pull off the change? Time will tell.
CIM will never become a Curtis without buy-in from the very people who actually do the work – the faculty – who must believe in the goal and the road to get there, if the admin’s “vision” is ever to come to fruition.
Losing more than 120 faculty and staff in a few short years?
Alienating the faculty to the extent they publicly vote no-confidence in this administration?
Students beginning to leave due to the toxic atmosphere, teachers being fired mid-term for no reason?
CIM will never be a Curtis, because this administration doesn’t know what they’re doing, and like all idiots, has neither the insight nor the intelligence to realize just how stupid they are and what a mess of things they’ve made.
If it didn’t mess up other people’s lives it might be humorous…but they’re playing with young people’s educations and faculty’s careers…both of which they appear to know nothing about, nor do they appear to care.
In not following their own policies, hiring board members’ family members to do God-knows-what, summarily firing faculty without cause, etc. they have surely crossed into unethical territory, and most probably have also broken the law.
Biker Man, there is nothing “confusing” here.
Mr. Jackobs is a talented, dedicated professional.
You are an asshole.
Still need help?
It wouldn’t surprise me if CIM wanted this “confusion” to occur.
Although there could be complaints that don’t reach the level of a formal Title IX filing, this seems more the case of management retaliation against him for what they feel is insubordination. And, with the added benefit that it gets the rumor mill going against him too. Pretty nasty, timing and all, and the apparent lack of any due process.
I have a son who is a junior at another conservatory and when we heard this we were shocked. To hear that no reason was given and that this was done mid-semester is cruel. Audition prep is so stressful for students. They are working so hard and depend on their teacher so much. I know how much CIM costs and if I was a current parent and this happened while my student was in your studio I would be outraged and would be suing to get my money back. My child has such respect for you and was also so saddened by your treatment. What a fall CIM has taken in such a short time. Best wishes to you in your future.
If I were feeling charitable toward the CIM admin, which I’m not, the low number of students is the only clue I can see of a business-related reason for firing him, absent anything untoward on his part, i.e. not pulling his teaching weight commensurate with his salary, but then of course you should communicate that and let him finish the school year and do a proper transition. The mid-semester timing is clearly meant to send a signal to other rebellious faculty that they’re not playing around, treating Jackobs like a pawn and his students like dirt. Callous and shameful.
This is not a “low number of students.” Members of the faculty who are performing full-time with the Cleveland Orchestra typically have small studios. If you bother yourself to look at your website you will see who is full-time and who is part-time.
“My” website? “Small studio” = “low number of students”. Two students per year on average for 31 years is indeed a very small studio if he’s considered full time, and doesn’t correspond to the definition of “studio” that I’m familiar with. You’re saying that’s normal, which I’m happy to accept, although I think it would seem weird to most laypeople.
Mark, like all other TCO faculty (and most of the faculty in general) are part-time. Many can only take a small number of students due to their full-time career in the orchestra. In no way does it reflect on his excellence as a teacher.
Mr. Jackobs is full time with the renowned Cleveland Orchestra. He is part time adjunct faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music. This is a busy and demanding schedule. 63 individual studio students is a good load, particularly since they may be with him for several years and overlap. So he may well have taken on two new students a year but had as many as six to eight at any given time.
But 60 students in 30 years does not mean 30 yearly classes of 2 students! If the course lasts let’s say 5 years (no idea, I am guessing) this means a class of 10 students, for the 5 years. Assuming constant recycling (every year 2 students graduate and 2 new students enter) he will have always 10 students in a year, but over 30 years they will be 60.
Not to mention sabbatical semesters or light years where there weren’t enough high-level students he wanted to teach.
CIM does not offer sabbaticals (just FYI).
Thanks for the clarifications. I didn’t realize all the studio faculty at CIM are considered part-time, given that I took it they’re salaried employees with benefits (to whatever extent). And in no way was I suggesting that this might have been a merit-based decision by Hogle. I meant to say that the only clue one could find for dismissal, an apparently small teaching load (and it turns out, only apparently that and not actually that), might have justified such a decision, if and only if they hadn’t done it mid-semester, i.e. I was trying to reinforce how this decision doesn’t make sense other than as something sinister.
Most “lay-people” have no idea what a conservatory is, nor do they know how few students the greatest teachers are willing to accept. Such a small number of students only means the teacher is completely invested and wont get bogged down having to track the progress of more. And when it comes to elite classical music training, lay-people have absolutely nothing to do with it, nor should they.
Your math doesn’t account for the fact that the students are there for more than one year. See my response to Singeril.
Each student is at CIM for more than a year. I’ll skip making this into a story problem and let you think a minute on this.
Most laypeople have little to no experience with the arts, yet think they are qualified to judge how it is developed, trained, and practiced. Same for how the medical world works, how scientific research is carried out, how publishing happens, and more. So it seems weird, if you have no knowledge of the field. Then learn.
Anyway, if you have several undergrad students each spending four years at the school, maybe a masters student or two spending two years, and a doctorate student spending five or more years, you may as a teacher find yourself teaching 6-10 lessons a week – not a negligible commitment in addition to a full orchestral schedule – but still have a very few students over the long term.
He was there more than 30 years. If his job performance were any kind of an issue it could, should, and would have been addressed decades ago.
Without knowing the terms of his contract with CIM, it appears he has grounds to sue for unfair dismissal. One goes to a school to study with a specific teacher. Can the parents of his students also sue CIM? Maybe the administrative “leaders” need to be hit with legal action if that’s all they understand.
I doubt it? CIM doesn’t have tenure, everyone is on 1-year contracts and serves “at the pleasure of” and all that jazz. Maybe they just have to pay out the rest of his salary. I would assume Hogle checked with a lawyer, though his actions so far do give pause on his common sense or grasp of reality.
It is often legal to fire someone unfairly.
In this case, he may have a ‘wrongful termination’ case if it was for illegal reasons — including retaliation for his role in representing faculty and students
Wrong. You can be terminated for a good reason, bad reason or no reason, as long as it is not illegal.
Ohio is an at-will employment state, so employee protections are less robust than they might be in some other places, though it sounds like he may have had an employment agreement that would provide certain legal rights on termination. The separation agreement would presumably address those rights, and would likely provide for the payment of any amount due on termination under the employment agreement.
Legalities aside, however, CIM doesn’t sound like a very healthy or happy organization at the moment, which is unfortunate, especially if you’re paying a fortune on tuition there.
There may be an arbitration clause in the employment agreement.
Note that at-will employment is the law in 49 states; only Montana has different rules.
There is, no doubt, an employment agreement in place, but it probably is not especially robust insofar as an adjunct is concerned. CIM must have lawyers in place who know more about employment law than its administration knows about music. With 120 people who have recently left there, they’d be drowning in lawsuits were that not the case.
The Cleveland Institute of Music’s Board must act decisively to address the controversies plaguing the institution. It is incumbent upon the board members, who lend their reputations to CIM, to intervene and restore the integrity and excellence for which CIM is known. Continued inaction risks complicity in the ongoing issues and tarnishes the institution’s esteemed legacy. The time for transparency and accountability is now!
1. Susan A. Rothmann, PhD- Chair
2. Katrina Redmond – Treasurer
3. Bonnie M. Cook (BM ’77) – Secretary
4. A. Chace Anderson – Trustee
5. Stephen P. Ban – Trustee
6. Cynthia Bassett – Trustee
7. Michael W. Beedles** – Trustee
8. Daniel J. Brown – Trustee
9. Ann Buescher – Trustee
10. Irad Carmi (BM ’87, MM ’88)** – Trustee
11. Robert Conrad- Trustee
12. Charles P. Cooley, II – Trustee
13. Jeffrey M. Davis – Trustee
14. C. Thomas Harvie – Trustee
15. Richard J. Hipple – Trustee
16. Peter T. Kjome (BM ’89) – Trustee
17. Jeffrey B. Linton- Trustee
18. Charles S. Marston – Trustee
19. Jonathan P. Miller, MD** – Trustee
20. Shawn M. Riley – Trustee
21. Barbara S. Robinson- Trustee
22. Elliott L. Schlang – Trustee
23. Donna M. Sciarappa – Trustee
24. Kevin Stein – Trustee
25. Joseph H. Thomas – Trustee
26. Sanford E. Watson – Trustee
27. Titus Underwood (BM ’08) – Ex-Officio Trustee
28. Bruce Hearey – Representing Governing Members
29. Erika Cho – President, Student Government Association
30. Anne Jarrad- President, Partners for CIM
31. Kathryn Brown (AD ’93) – Chair, Faculty Senate
32. Paul W. Hogle – President | CEO
33. Richard J. Bogomolny – Trustee Emeritus
34. Peter J. Brodhead – Trustee Emeritus
35. Brent M. Buckley – Trustee Emeritus
36. Rosemary Deioma – Trustee Emeritus
37. Terrance K. Donley – Trustee Emeritus
38. John D. Gilliam – Trustee Emeritus
39. Jeffrey P. Gotschall – Trustee Emeritus
Dear Guest,
The Board will not act because they unanimously voted Susan in for a 4th term as Chair just last December. And according to her, she has “deep knowledge of classical music conservatory management” (as per her Linkedin). The Board IS the problem. They are all supportive of Susan, Hogle, and Harrison. It would take some mighty strong board ppl to stand up and do the right thing and see to it things get straightened out. I just don’t see anyone in their group willing to commit to doing that.
Other option is that the faculty walks. But, that won’t happen b/c of job/money loss.
Best or worst case scenario is maybe they would listen if student numbers drop. The alums & their colleagues are angry and they often are the ones sending the applicants. Maybe their ire will eventually pay off if fewer kids audition. Otherwise, I am guessing this insanity will continue.
Dorothy Delay would teach 63 students in one day…..( I know, I know, she wasn’t performing)…..but plenty of full-time orchestra players have full-time teaching appointments too.
Clearly, you are confused about the time commitment required by a full-time appointment in a top-drawer full-time professional orchestra as well as the time commitment required by a full-time teaching appointment at a top conservatory.
Those two things are not compatible.
Clearly, you don’t know the same people I know.
First of all you exaggerate wildly, second of all, Delay was a teaching machine who probably over-stretched herself at times, and as you correctly point out, did jack else besides teach. That’s a different beast.
Did you do the math on that? That’s 5 students an hour if she had a 12hr workday. 12 minutes per student, excellent education.
it isn’t true that a full time orchestral musician can also be employed as a full time professor at a university or conservatory – unless the full time course load and number of credits defined by the school resembles that of another school’s part time description.
Dotty Delay had a studio of highly gifted students who arrived at her room in The Juilliard equipped with few bad habits and much more than all the enthusiasm a teacher could dream of from a student. Furthermore, she had a basket full of moderately gifted teaching assistants. A handful of her students received full length lessons, and the others were on the periphery—particularly those who weren’t signed up for Sony or RCA debut recordings.
We have more videos of Galamian teaching—I have never seen a video of Dotty, but my parents knew her well and said she was the right person, at the right time and place. Today’s youngsters might not be as inspired by her methods.
While the state of Ohio may not provide good protection of employees, I would think the higher ed accreditation process would not allow for retaliation against a faculty leader. I think CIM’s accrediting agencies, NASM and NAHCL should be informed immediately of what is happening at CIM. Perhaps losing federal funding may get the attention of these board members. I may do it myself if no one else has. https://www.cim.edu/academic-programs/registrar/control-accreditation
The politics of the music school is shameful. Everyone is more interested in protecting their own interests more than that of the students. Schools exist for the benefit of students not administrators and faculty. Tragic!
I was a student of Mark’s. What many people here seem to miss is that TCO tours extensively, more so than many other top American orchestras.
When the orchestra is on tour, students skip that week of lessons (a standard practice at any school with actively performing faculty). When the orchestra is not on tour, we double up. So if the orchestra has been on tour for three weeks, you would have double lessons for three weeks. That means that if he has 16 students at one time (students don’t graduate all at once – they study consecutively), during make-up weeks he is teaching 32 lessons a week. This is more lessons than many full time faculty members would commit to and this is not including studio class and additional meetings with students.
For perspective, the average studio size was around 18 for full time faculty members. Mark was well within range of the full time faculty’s time commitments (as a part time faculty member, no less) and there were many full time faculty members with under 10 students at a time. TCO members who taught at the school rarely had more than 8 and often 6 or fewer students.
Mark is an exceptional teacher and this is a huge blow to the school and his students. Anyone questioning the number of students he has had is ignorant to the standard practices of high level conservatories.
Why is this happening where there is mistrust between administration and faculty members? Yes, private colleges, institutions have there disputes. There is a fine line on how you do business and how you communicate with all.. Collaboration, with members of the orchestra, teaching in this Institute, is an honor for all, particularly.. the students. Accountability, on both sectors, is so important. Administrators, of CIM, should always have a mission that is positive, designed to be dedicated to both students and their instructors. If they cannot do this… it will dissolve.
In this age of recrimination and polarization, a thoughtful, respectful public response like this one is reassuring. You show yourself to be a person of great skill and integrity. Thank you.
I am one of Mr. Jackobs’ former students, now making my way as a professional musician. It is important for me to share that in my 4 years of undergraduate study with Mr. Jackobs and several summers at music camp with him, he gave so much extra time and care to his students beyond the “allotted” lesson time for which he was paid. It was never a doubt that he was heavily invested in the success of each and every student and this was his passion work to teach us. When he offers here for students to contact him for pre-recital and pre-audition lessons, I know he is genuine; he has been there to support students and former students all along their paths, including well beyond their formal period of study. There’s a reason that even as an adult I call him Mr. Jackobs! I have enormous respect for him and it’s truly a shame to see this situation. It may be easy to suppose some reasonable cause for his termination as an outsider (as some comments here show), but as someone who worked very closely with Mr. Jackobs for many years, I cannot imagine any such cause. He is a devoted teacher, a “monster” of a musician, and a very very good guy.
I hope ‘it will soon be over’ and everyone will be playing well and the music sweeter.
It’s awful to see a top conservatory implode. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, an equivalent visual arts academy, is in the process of doing the same thing.