Friday 29th of March 2024

preventing sexual abuse in music...

conductingconducting

Several major orchestras announced that they were distancing themselves from the conductor Charles Dutoit, after The Associated Press reported on Thursday that four women claimed that he sexually assaulted them in incidents between 1985 and 2010.

Mr. Dutoit, the 81-year-old artistic director and principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, became the latest high-profile figure in the classical music world to be accused of sexual misconduct.

The Associated Press said that four women — two of whom were named — gave accounts of behavior that included Mr. Dutoit physically restraining them, forcing his body against theirs, putting his tongue into their mouths, and, in one case, sticking one of their hands down his pants.

The report quoted the soprano Sylvia McNair as saying that Mr. Dutoit had cornered her in a hotel elevator after a rehearsal with the Minnesota Orchestra in 1985. “As soon as it was just the two of us in the elevator,” she told The A.P., Mr. Dutoit “pushed me back against the elevator wall and pressed his knee way up between my legs and pressed himself all over me.”

On Saturday, Mr. Dutoit said in a statement that “whilst informal physical contact is commonplace in the arts world as a mutual gesture of friendship, the serious accusations made involving coercion and forced physical contact have absolutely no basis in truth.”

“I believe within this current climate,” the statement continued, “media accusations on serious physical abuse do not help society tackle these issues properly if the claims are in fact not true.”

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra said in a statement that it and Mr. Dutoit “have jointly agreed to release him from his forthcoming concert obligations with the orchestra for the immediate future.”

“These accusations are taken very seriously by the orchestra,” the statement said, “and the R.P.O. believes that the truth of the matter should be determined by the legal process. Charles Dutoit needs to be given a fair opportunity to seek legal advice and contest these accusations.”

The Boston Symphony Orchestra, with which Mr. Dutoit had a longstanding performing and recording relationship, said in a statement that “given the extremely troubling allegations” against him, the orchestra “will end its relationship with him and he will no longer appear as a guest conductor.”

The New York Philharmonic, which Mr. Dutoit had been scheduled to conduct next month, said that he had withdrawn from the concerts; the Chicago Symphony Orchestra likewise said that he had withdrawn from concerts in March and April.

read more:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/arts/music/charles-dutoit-sexual-misconduct.html

 

in the beauty industry...

Three leading figures in the Miss America Organization have resigned after leaked emails revealed how pageant officials ridiculed winners for their appearance, intellect and sex lives.


The president, Josh Randle, quit on Saturday along with chief executive Sam Haskell and chairwoman Lynn Weidner, a former Miss New Jersey.


Randle said his comment in an email about the physical appearance of 2013 winner Mallory Hagan came months before he started working for the Miss America Organization in 2015. But he said it was wrong.

 

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/24/three-miss-america-offic...

 

listen, gawk, don't touch...

Lola Astanova is a young pianist who has forged an exhilarating career and turned around the classical music scene with her unique artistic approach and fashion. Sputnik spoke with Astanova in a candid interview.

A modern-day virtuoso, Lola Astanova was born in Uzbekistan but has been residing in the US since 2000. Astanova has forged a breathtaking career and has become famous not only for her virtuoso performances but also for her unique sense of style, which is feminine, sexy and vivacious.

According to Astanova when she picks her performance outfits she thinks about the repertoire as well as the venue and the audience.

“I want my outfits to look vivid and organic because it is a part of my presentation.  For the people in the audience the concert is a special event, the event they have been waiting for and paid good money to attend, so the last thing they want to see is some messy figure that just rolled out of bed, and came to the stage to mechanically run through a bunch of notes,” Astanova told Sputnik Mundo.

 

read more: 

https://sputniknews.com/society/201712261060327935-modern-day-virtuoso-p...