The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra has removed two of its musicians, two sources say, a month after it launched an investigation into what it called “deeply troubling comments posted online.”
In a statement on April 22 announcing the investigation, the orchestra said it was following its code of conduct and working alongside the Calgary Musicians Association union to “urgently” look into the comments, without clarifying their content or author.
The orchestra issued another statement Tuesday saying that a third-party investigator had concluded their work and that the organization was “taking action.” Asked for more detail, Calgary Philharmonic chief executive officer Marc Stevens said in an e-mail that the orchestra would “address the behaviour of two of our orchestra members,” without naming the musicians or elaborating the behaviour.
The names and biographies of principal clarinettist Slavko Popovic and principal oboist Alex Klein were removed from the Calgary Philharmonic’s website Tuesday. Two people with direct knowledge of the situation said that the two musicians had been removed from the orchestra. The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources because they were not authorized to discuss the situation.
Neither Mr. Popovic nor Mr. Klein responded to requests for comment. The Calgary Musicians Association, which represents the orchestra’s members, declined to comment.
The exact comments that triggered the investigation have not been disclosed, nor has the reasoning for the musicians’ removal from the orchestra – including if that reasoning was directly related to the initial comments.
But prior to the Calgary Philharmonic’s April 22 statement, screenshots were circulated online on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit of a user with Mr. Popovic’s name using slurs against women and Black people.
Katherine Needleman, an American oboist and advocate for fairer treatment of marginalized people in the classical music world, surfaced some of those screenshots on her Facebook page in the days before the orchestra announced its investigation.
A Dora Awards without Mirvish Productions comes at a bad time for Toronto theatre
“We need to show our industry and music-loving public that there are consequences for inappropriate behaviour,” Ms. Needleman said in an e-mail Tuesday after the Calgary Philharmonic’s announcement. “In the face of misconduct at The Cleveland Orchestra and The Curtis Institute of Music, both institutions made their full investigative reports public. These documents have been game-changing, and I encourage Calgary Philharmonic to do the same.”
Mr. Popovic is a young clarinetist who joined the Calgary Philharmonic after attending Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music. Mr. Klein is a Grammy Award-winning oboist who has previously worked with the Chicago Symphony.
The New York Philharmonic in 2018 dismissed two male musicians over unspecified allegations of misconduct. An arbitrator pushed the orchestra to reinstate the musicians in 2020. But after an article last month in the magazine New York described new alleged details of the situation, the New York orchestra said the musicians would not appear in upcoming performances. The situation has ignited discussion on social media about behaviour in the classical-music scene globally.
Mr. Stevens did not respond to a list of detailed questions from The Globe but added in his e-mail: “I can assure you that we did not take these steps lightly but for the morale, safety and health of our organization it was deemed necessary.”