Commencement speaker bows out as Cleveland Institute of Music launches Title IX probe

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Institute of Music has launched an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior by principal conductor Carlos Kalmar. The inquiry is still in its early stages, but there’s already been some fallout. This week, Anne Midgette, the former longtime classical music critic at the Washington Post, declined an honorary doctorate from the higher education institution and withdrew as keynote speaker at the commencement ceremony on May 20.

“I’m really disappointed,” she told cleveland.com. “I was so flattered to be asked and it was a lovely thing. I really hate to pull out, but I reached a point where I felt I had no other choice.”

Midgette, who also covered classical music for The New York Times and is now working on a book, was announced as commencement speaker back in March. In late April, however, students were informed that Kalmar, also CIM’s director of orchestral studies, was the subject of a Title IX investigation. Title IX is a federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in schools or education programs that receive federal funding.

“It was with great horror that I read one of Carlos Kalmar’s course evaluations. This is not the first time that I have heard his name – detailing inappropriate behavior of varying degrees,” Vivian Scott, the music conservatory’s Title IX coordinator, wrote on April 27 in an email sent to all students. “I am conducting an investigation into Mr. Kalmar’s behavior, but I need your help… If you have experienced (or observed) behavior on Mr. Kalmar’s behalf that can be considered sexual harassment, please contact me if you are willing to provide details.”

In addition to his CIM position, Kalmar is the principal conductor for the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago and previously served as music director of the Oregon Symphony. In a 2009 profile, Portland Monthly characterized him as a “megalomaniac” who “treats musicians like peons.” The article also chronicled an incident in 2006 when Kalmar unceremoniously fired the symphony’s longtime principal flutist Dawn Weiss in a move that eventually led to the voluntary departures of six other musicians.

In a statement to cleveland.com, Kalmar’s attorney James Wooley said his client “has never been accused of wrongdoing in his impeccable 40-plus year career,” adding Kalmar “has been improperly identified in connection with a possible Title IX matter.”

“Title IX matters are confidential under federal law,” the lawyer said. “He has done nothing wrong. We have nothing more to say about the matter.”

Since Scott’s email went out, Midgette said she has heard from a number of students and faculty, offering their perspectives on the situation. She was concerned not only by the number of people who reached out but by the degree to which they felt angry and unheard.

“It is not usual for multiple people to come forward to a journalist they don’t know,” Midgette said. “I felt that the school needs to improve its internal culture. It’s not OK to have so many people so upset and I don’t want to endorse that because I’ve worked so hard to try to improve things.”

Indeed, Midgette has done her part to effect change in classical music. In 2018 while at the Washington Post, she and reporter Peggy McGlone uncovered allegations of sexual harassment against former Cleveland Orchestra concertmaster William Preucil, back then also a Cleveland Institute of Music faculty member.

Their reporting eventually led to Preucil’s firing at the Cleveland Orchestra and his resignation from CIM. The articles appeared to be a factor in CIM’s decision to bring Midgette to town for the commencement ceremony. In a press release at the time, the institution praised her work for sparking “frank conversations about inclusivity, accountability and the future of classical music.”

But by Monday, the situation had become untenable for Midgette.

“They assured me inviting me was a sign they were turning over a new leaf,” she said. “But given they have this Title IX situation going on, it felt like I was potentially being used to whitewash a situation that was against what I stand for.”

Still, the decision to withdraw wasn’t easy and didn’t come without careful consideration. Midgette threw on her old reporter’s hat and conducted her own mini-investigation until she was comfortable enough to make the call.

“I was essentially hearing the same story over and over. I didn’t have anybody come in with, ‘Oh, no, that’s not true.’ Everybody was amplifying what the others had said,” she said. “I spoke to enough people to feel that it was just not going to be appropriate for me to be there.”

She added, “I am rooting for the school to work out its problems and be able to celebrate and truly foster all that great potential.”

Midgette says she was told that CIM recently hired an outside, independent party to conduct the formal investigation. The institution hasn’t announced a replacement speaker for its 98th Commencement Ceremony in two weeks. But for students and faculty, the bigger concern is the lack of communication from school leadership.

“There’s a lot we just haven’t heard from the administration, a lot of questions haven’t been answered yet,” said Sol Rizzato, who as the student government graduate ambassador serves as the liaison between students and the administration.

Last Friday, he helped organize an all-student forum where they could ask questions and show support for each other. In addition to calls for transparency, students are seeking assurances from leadership of their professional safety in case they come forward.

“I think with any sort of built-in systems of power, it can be very scary when you’re working with people in an established position of power,” he said. “People that start speaking out have tended to get a lot of blowback.”

His message to his fellow students: “There’s no issue that is too small to report.”

A spokesperson for Cleveland Institute of Music didn’t respond to a request for comment.