“As a classical violinist, Lara St. John has cut a fearless path from child prodigy to international fame,” write Tricia L. Nadolny and Peter Dobrin in Thursday’s (7/25) Philadelphia Inquirer. “But long before that, she says … she was repeatedly sexually abused by the man trusted to hone her talent, renowned violinist and teacher Jascha Brodsky [who died in 1997]. Then, she says, she was disregarded when she reported what had happened to an administrator at Philadelphia’s elite Curtis Institute of Music…. In 1986 … she told the school’s then-dean, Robert Fitzpatrick, that she had been abused…. Fitzpatrick, who … retired from Curtis in 2009 … adamantly denied St. John’s recollection…. The Inquirer has located four other women who say that Brodsky pursued them sexually while they were Curtis students in the 1980s.” A follow-up Inquirer article the same day reports, “The Curtis Institute of Music has asked alumni, parents, and students to not talk publicly about a report that one of its most revered teachers sexually assaulted a student in the 1980s…. ‘Out of respect for all those involved, we request that you refrain from discussing this matter publicly, online, or on social media,’ Curtis spokeswoman Patricia K. Johnson wrote in an email to the Curtis community…. Johnson later said its purpose was ‘that I’d hope if anyone had information about this story, that they would share it with us first so we could look into or address it as needed.’ ”
In photo: violinist Lara St. John
Posted July 25, 2019
