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What a truly shocking and disappointing story from one of the world's most renowned music conservatories
Elite Juilliard school embroiled in massive sex misconduct scandal,
renowned professor put on leave
By Olivia Land, NYPost
December 21, 2022 11:30am Updated
A massive sexual misconduct scandal is rocking the elite Juilliard school of music, as multiple instructors have been accused of discrimination and harassment — and one renowned professor has been put on leave after 500 people signed a letter decrying his “abuse of women and power.”
Composer Robert Beaser, 68, was sidelined for a pattern of mistreatment that included soliciting sex from students — much of which was detailed in a Dec. 12 exposé of the Upper West Side conservatory published in VAN magazine.
“Sexual discrimination and sexual harassment have no place in our school community. We take all such allegations extremely seriously,” Juilliard spokesperson Rosalie Contreras told The Post on Wednesday as news of Beaser being put on leave emerged.
In one case, Beaser allegedly offered to boost a now-former student’s career, before asking her for sex in return, the publication said.
“What will you do for me?” he allegedly said.
Beaser — who also frequently taught students in his private home — joined the Juilliard composition department in 1993, and was department chair from 1994 through 2018.
The school was reportedly made aware of allegations against him in the 1990s and again in 2017 and 2018.
Composer Robert Beaser (center) is on leave from his faculty position at Juilliard.
Getty Images
Though the 2018 report coincided with Beaser being replaced as chair by Melinda Wagner, Contreras told VAN the decisions were unrelated.
“Allegations that were previously reported … in the late 1990s and in 2017/18 were investigated at the time, based on information that was provided,” she explained to The Post.
“However, in order to review new information and to better understand these past allegations, the school’s current administration launched an independent investigation on December 8.”
Juilliard is widely considered one of the best performing arts conservatories in the world.
Getty Images
Per the Daily Mail, provost Andy Meyer explained to faculty in a Dec. 16 email that Beaser “will step away from his teaching duties” while an investigation is conducted.
The decision to place Beaser on leave also coincided with the publication of an open letter signed by 500 musicians, composers and other music leaders decrying his “decades-long abuse of woman and power.”
Beaser did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for a comment, though he told VAN that he would be “cooperating” with the investigation.
The late Christopher Rouse (left) and Robert Beaser (right) are both accused of sexual misconduct
toward female composition students.
Getty Images
In addition to Beaser, the VAN piece detailed alleged misconduct by late Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and faculty member Christopher Rouse, who composer Suzanne Farrin says tried to kiss her following a dinner to discuss her audition for the doctoral program in 2001.
After she “twirled out of his arms and … ran away,” Farrin told the magazine, her Juilliard application was rejected. When she called to report the incident, an administrator insisted Rouse was a “‘big supporter’” of her music.
“They were prepared for my call,” Farrin remembered.
Composer Suzanne Farrin says Christopher Rouse tried to kiss her following a dinner to discuss
her audition for the doctoral program.
International Contemporary Ensem
The VAN article also includes a claim from eight female graduates that another faculty member, Oscar-winning composer John Corigliano, rarely accepted female students.
“It was said like a joke,” alumna Cristina Spinei told the outlet. “‘You couldn’t study with him’ or something.”
Although adjunct faculty member Samuel Adler confirmed that Corigliano did not take female students “in the beginning,” Corigliano denied the accusations to the magazine.
Robert Beaser’s conduct was previously reported to Juilliard officials in the late 1990s and 2017/18.
AFP via Getty Images
“It saddens me to read that you have been told by eight female students, formerly at The Juilliard School, that there was an unwritten policy by which they perceived that I favored the men over the women,” he said.
“Such a position was neither my preference nor my policy. I have taken great joy in working with many very gifted young women and men in my long teaching career.”
Corigliano did not reply to The Post’s request for a comment.
Oscar winner John Corigliano is accused of not accepting female students.
WireImage
Several of the former students quoted in the VAN story felt the acknowledgment of Juilliard’s problematic culture was long overdue.
“I wouldn’t even call it an open secret. I’d just call it open,” film composer and Juilliard graduate Laura Karpman said of the sexual predation on campus. “These women feel incredibly vulnerable. If they come forward they have no protection … They have no guarantees that anyone will listen.”
Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum, another composition alum, corroborated Karpman’s sentiment, saying female students felt safe studying with “less than half” the faculty.
One alum called the sexual misconduct on campus an “open” issue.
AFP via Getty Images
Founded in 1905, Juilliard is widely regarded as one of the most elite performing arts conservatories in the world. With an esteemed alumni community of award-winning actors, musicians and dancers, composer Sarah Kirkland Snider argued the school has “outsized responsibility.”
“When you pride yourself on being the best in the country or in the world, then people look to you for their standards and expectations,” said Snider, who never attended Juilliard. “Teachers at other schools knew about it, they made references to it. It became a joke, a constant punchline.”
Corigliano denied the accusations against him.
Patrick McMullan via Getty Image
In her statement to The Post, Contreras said the school remained “committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for all.”
“We cannot comment further as confidentiality is paramount to the integrity of the investigation, and discussing cases could discourage individuals from coming forward with their experiences,” she concluded.
Irish dancing: Claims of competition fixes, sexual favours
detailed in court challenge
Text messages show offer of sexual acts in one exchange between two male teachers
Simon Carswell, The Irish Times
Fri Dec 23 2022 - 05:00
New records filed in the High Court this week reveal exchanges of text messages showing efforts by Irish dancing instructors to secure high scores for their students from fellow teachers, including the offer of sexual acts in one exchange between two male teachers.
The text messages are short but it is clear what the people are asking for. The sender is seeking the recipient’s help when it comes to marking their students in competitions.
Many of the messages contain lists of names of dancers and their competition numbers along with the gender and age category they are competing in. Some include more details, such as that a particular dancer had been dancing well or that they may have a high ranking in the world or won a major competition in recent times.
The messages are clear, along the lines of “could I ask you to look out for” and “I will sort her out” to “just do the best you can for them” and “have a girl u15 that needs to qualify”.
“The very best you can do for her – it’s a huge competition,” reads one text message.
“If she’s good, I will be doing best for her before the rest but won’t forget about yours,” reads another.
Some messages go further. In detailed exchanges between two male teachers who also act as judges, the conversations are sexually explicit, with one of the teachers appearing to offer sexual favours for higher scores.
“Will you be nice to her and if you are on with her make sure she’s okay. Please. I’ll s*** your d*** at the world [championships] as a thank you,” said the teacher.
In other exchanges, the two men talk about what hotel room numbers they are in with, on one occasion, one man asking the other to come to their room soon. There appears to be discussion about being ready for a sexual act.
“No visit no 100s,” he wrote, adding laughing emojis to the text and referring to the maximum score a dancer can get from a judge in a competition.
“Well the better you are to me the more you get [kisses emojis],” said one man to the other in another exchange of texts messages concerning scores in a competition.
The messages, which were submitted to a High Court judge this week as part of a new legal action, are at the centre of a scandal that has rocked the Irish dancing world.
Last July, the Irish Dancing Commission, or An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), the oldest and largest governing body for competitive Irish dancing, was informed of allegations that at least 12 Irish dancing teachers in Ireland and overseas were involved in the “fixing” of competitions by promising to award higher marks to competitors at Irish dancing events run by the commission in Ireland, the UK and the United States.
Supporting documentation provided to support the allegations was later leaked online.
In August, given the seriousness and nature of the allegations, the CLRG sought legal advice and, the following month, it asked retired Court of Appeal judge Michael Peart to investigate.
Earlier this month, the commission told teachers that the retired judge had recommended that 44 individuals face full disciplinary hearings. The commission said that all 44 individuals were being suspended from judging pending the outcome of the disciplinary process.
On Tuesday, lawyers for Amanda (Mandy) Hennigan, who runs an Irish dancing school in Hertfordshire, north of London, and is an adjudicator for CLRG, went to the High Court in Dublin with a case aimed at stopping the commission’s disciplinary hearing against her. She is one of the suspended 44 individuals and the first to take legal action against the commission over the controversy.
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