New England Conservatory Fires Ben Zander

[James Meckley]

This news item appeared in today's Boston Globe:

http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-13/metro/30618872_1_benjamin-zander-boston-philharmonic-orchestra-conservatory-officials

James

[Constantin]

This is sad from several perspectives:

If rehabilitation is not possible, then why do we ever release offenders?

If rehabilitation is possible, and this man (as Zander states) has not re-offended for twenty years, then what is the problem?

Ah, how politics extends even into the world of music! 
But of course Mahler could certainly speak of this from his personal experiences in Vienna and New York.

[James Meckley]

A couple of follow-up items for those who might be tracking this unfortunate situation:

http://benjaminzander.com/news/item/490

http://benjaminzander.com/news/item/491

James

[yiwufan]

I had the fortune of attending my first and only Mahler8 under Zander with the BPO in the late 90s.  Great great concert.  I remember him being hailed as a great Mahlerian back then, I haven't really kept up with the scene, but always heard great things critically and my own ears enjoyed his music.  In addition to his work as a musician it was well known that he was an immense contributor to the musical development of the youth of Boston. 

It sounds extremely political, like this is an excuse to get rid of him.  If it was just the issue of this videographer, they would just fire him and move on, but to lay the blame on Zander doesn't really make any sense, if anything you would blame the administration, not the talent.

I have no idea how Zander is as a person, if his students love him or not, but if they do I'm sure they and their parents will form some sort of campaign of support.  If not, well then.....

[Michael]

I too think this was used as an excuse to get rid of Zander.  Zander mentioned in the above linked-to letter to EPO students that he was informed in June of (2011?) that he would be terminated on June 30, 2012.  He postulated that it probably had something to do with his disagreements with NEC administration about a tour that had just been completed.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the rest.  ;-)

[Damfino]

It sounds extremely political, like this is an excuse to get rid of him.  If it was just the issue of this videographer, they would just fire him and move on, but to lay the blame on Zander doesn't really make any sense, if anything you would blame the administration, not the talent.

I have no idea how Zander is as a person, if his students love him or not, but if they do I'm sure they and their parents will form some sort of campaign of support.  If not, well then.....

It seems to me as well that it would be simple enough to fire the videographer, unless maybe Zander was told to to this and refused to do so, hence his own firing.

In the wake of the epic Penn State scandal. I am not surprised the NEC would want the guy fired. The NEC may have even been in violation of some law or other in hiring the guy.

The company where I work does business with schools. We sign legally binding contracts that if any sex offenders are employed by us (we have had at least a couple) they will not go within a certain distance of campuses, etc where children may be present. It could be that the NEC violated something by having the videographer around students.

Or the whole thing could just be a smokescreen to get rid of Zander.

[sperlsco]

Unfortunately, we live more and more in a zero-tolerance society (at least in the US).  Zero-tolerance generally means that neither a thought-process nor reasoning are involved in decision making. 

It's hard to know all that is involved in this situation, but it is far from surprising.

Although, I am not a fan of his Telarc recordings, I think Zander is a wonderful and enthusiastic teacher based on his discussion discs.  It is a real shame for his students.   

[yiwufan]

Zero tolerance is OK in this PC world, I get it, but what does that have to do with the musical or artistic director?  Liability ALWAYS lies with the administration.  If the issue was solely with the videographer then the school itself should be taken to task for a poor screening process.  Should we blame the conductor for poor plumbing, unpaid electricity bills?  Seems like an excuse, and a flimsy one at that, to get rid of somebody for non-related reasons.

[singingfriar]

I hadn't heard of this.  Thanks for posting it here.  What a sad situation indeed.

[James Meckley]

Here's an update on the Zander matter:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/02/05/fired_from_new_england_conservatory_benjamin_zander_considers_what_happened_and_what_the_future_holds/?page=1

James

[Constantin]

Thank you for this update, James.

As I said, nearly a month ago:

This is sad from several perspectives:

If rehabilitation is not possible, then why do we ever release offenders?

If rehabilitation is possible, and this man (as Zander states) has not re-offended for twenty years, then what is the problem?

Ah, how politics extends even into the world of music! 
But of course Mahler could certainly speak of this from his personal experiences in Vienna and New York.
........................................................................

Of course, no one is sympathetic to sex-offenders, especially when it involves children.
But to ruin a good conductor's life over tangential associations, seems a grievous miscarriage of justice.
Poor Ben Zander.

[barry guerrero]

"But to ruin a good conductor's life over tangential associations, seems a grievous miscarriage of justice"

Agreed. Look how the do-gooders trashed the last year of Joe Paterno's life. What good did it do?

[merlin]

I beg to differ.  There is no valid comparison of the circumstances surrounding Zander and Paterno.  No one came to Ben and said they had witnessed the videographer molesting a child, as was the case with Joe.

Both situations are sad, but at least in the Penn State incident, there will be a much greater awareness of the need to report untoward behavior, and follow up on it.

[barry guerrero]

Yeah, I guess so. I just don't see where firing him changed or helped anything.

[yiwufan]

I beg to differ.  There is no valid comparison of the circumstances surrounding Zander and Paterno.  No one came to Ben and said they had witnessed the videographer molesting a child, as was the case with Joe.

Both situations are sad, but at least in the Penn State incident, there will be a much greater awareness of the need to report untoward behavior, and follow up on it.

I second this.  No comparison at all.  The old man died probably out of guilt for turning a blind eye to Sandusky's travesties for so many years.