#TBT Just In Case You’ve Been Living Under A Rock, Plácido Domingo Is Back In The News

At the end of last week, news broke about Plácido Domingo’s alleged ties to an Argentinian crime syndicate. Nutshell: law enforcement has wiretap recordings that include an individual they believe is Domingo making arrangements with a representative of the crime syndicate for a clandestine meeting with a sex worker. While Domingo is not being sought by Argentinian authorities, the individual on the phone call has been arrested and several other classical …

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Labor Disputes And Professional Disclosure

Several readers have reached out since the end of last week asking when I’ll be writing something about the San Antonio Symphony. All things being equal, I would write something but, in this case, I must point out the Professional Disclosure policy published in the footer that has been in place at Adaptistration for the last 15 years. Given the author’s position as an arts consultant and technology provider, he does …

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The Intersection Of Ethics, Accountability, and Executive Privilege At The Curtis Institute of Music

Warning: today’s article includes description of sexual violence. The 9/22/20 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article by Peter Dobrin that examines the report filed by law firm Cozen O’Connor into allegations from violinist Lara St. John of rape and sexual abuse by former Curtis faculty member, Jascha Brodsky, during her time at Curtis Institute of Music. The report not only found St. John’s claims credible, they found her tenacity …

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Remember That Time When Plácido Said He Accepted Full Responsibility For His Actions?

After multiple accusations and two formal investigations found a large number of sexual harassment allegations were credible, opera star Plácido Domingo issued multiple apologies. Back in February, I wrote “only time will tell if Domingo decides to make a tangible connection between regret and contrition” and as it turns out, it didn’t take much time at all to find out we shouldn’t expect much for either. This week, Domingo came out …

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AGMA Whistleblower Steps Forward

The 3/2/2020 edition of NPR Music published an article by Anastasia Tsioulcas that takes a thorough look into the allegations of quid pro quo in the form of American Guild of Musical Artists’ (AGMA) silence in exchange for a $500,000 settlement payment from Plácido Domingo. At the end of February 2020, news leaked that AGMA’s investigation into allegations that Domingo abused his positions of authority and engaged in multiple counts of …

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