“The Cleveland Orchestra and Baldwin Wallace University officially launched a joint residency program at the college’s annual Arts Innovation Summit,” reports Mark Arehart on Tuesday on Kent State University station WKSU. “A panel of experts discussed challenges facing orchestras across the country … focused mainly on how to engage with new audiences and the lack of diversity in orchestras. Fewer than 2 percent of musicians in American orchestras are African American. Just over 2 percent are Latin American and around 9 percent are Asian American. A subject that did not come up during the discussion was sexual harassment. But when asked, League of American Orchestras President and CEO Jesse Rosen said, ‘At all the meetings that we convene, this is what everyone’s working on. At the most recent meeting we had attorneys, HR professionals all working with orchestra staff, providing guidance. And they’re all doing it in their own home orchestras, doing the hard work of making sure they have practices and policies that create the right kind of culture.’ In July, Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster William Preucil was suspended over sexual harassment allegations,” and last month trombonist Massimo La Rosa was suspended over similar allegations that are currently being investigated.
Posted October 4, 2018
