Trinity Church’s Conductor Put on Leave Amid Investigation

Trinity Wall Avenue, one in all New York’s wealthiest and strongest church buildings, stated on Saturday that it was putting its high-profile director of music on depart because it investigates an allegation of sexual misconduct towards him.

The director, Julian Wachner, a highly-regarded conductor, composer and keyboardist who has been a fixture on the church for greater than a decade, has been accused by a former Juilliard worker, Mary Poole, of sexual assault. Ms. Poole stated in an interview with The New York Occasions that in a music competition in 2014, Mr. Wachner pushed her towards a wall, groped her and kissed her, and that he ignored her calls for that he cease. Mr. Wachner denies the accusations.

In a press release to The Occasions on Saturday, Trinity didn’t point out Ms. Poole by title however stated the church first discovered of “allegations of sexual misconduct” towards Mr. Wachner final month from social media. Ms. Poole lately posted an in depth account of her encounter with Mr. Wachner on her social media accounts, saying, “I used to be completely violated.”

Trinity stated it had employed outdoors counsel to research. “Julian was positioned on administrative depart on March 1 and can stay on depart through the investigation,” the church stated in its assertion. “Trinity takes these allegations very severely.”

Mr. Wachner, by way of an lawyer, denied the accusations.

“We respect Trinity’s resolution to conduct a radical investigation,” stated the lawyer, Andrew T. Miltenberg. “Ms. Poole’s outrageous allegations are categorically false and my consumer appears ahead to the matter being resolved. As a result of ongoing nature of the investigation we can’t remark additional right now.”

Ms. Poole helped manage a 2014 Juilliard competition in Aiken, S.C., that featured Mr. Wachner and the acclaimed Trinity choir. Within the interview, Ms. Poole stated that one night, at a home the place Juilliard employees members have been staying, Mr. Wachner requested her to get him a drink. Whereas she was making ready the drink within the kitchen, she stated, he pushed her towards a wall and started to grope and kiss her for nearly two minutes, at the same time as she advised him repeatedly to cease.

Two individuals interviewed by The Occasions — a pal of Ms. Poole’s and a former colleague — recalled listening to Ms. Poole describe the small print of the encounter with Mr. Wachner on the time. Ms. Poole stated she didn’t report the incident to the police, since she was in one other state and pressed for time in the course of a tour.

Within the interview, Ms. Poole, who was 24 on the time, stated that she felt powerless in coping with Mr. Wachner, an influential determine within the classical music business. “I felt like I couldn’t defend myself,” she stated, including that on the time she fearful she may endure skilled penalties if she spoke up. She stated that she nonetheless has panic assaults that she attributes to the encounter.

Ms. Poole reported the incident to Juilliard, which vowed to not rent Mr. Wachner once more.

In a press release on Saturday, Juilliard stated it was conscious of “unacceptable conduct” by Wachner in 2014.

“Sexual misconduct or discrimination usually are not tolerated at Juilliard, and we take all allegations very severely,” the college stated in a press release. “On the time we provided our full assist to Ms. Poole and knowledgeable Mr. Wachner that he wouldn’t be invited again to Juilliard sooner or later. Since that point we’ve got had no relationship with Mr. Wachner.”

Trinity, one of many metropolis’s wealthiest church buildings, has a portfolio of workplace buildings, inventory investments and residential improvement price $6 billion — and a critically-acclaimed music program.

As director of music and the humanities, Wachner oversees the church’s choir, its Baroque orchestra and its modern ensemble, which collectively current lots of of occasions annually. He’s maybe finest recognized for his annual performances of Handel’s “Messiah” — in 2018, The Occasions credited him with main “one of the best ‘Messiah’ in New York.” He has been nominated for Grammy Awards and has collaborated with main organizations, together with Carnegie Corridor, Lincoln Middle and the Los Angeles Opera.

In current months, Wachner has emerged as one in all three finalists to function the following inventive director of the famend Oregon Bach Competition. The competition didn’t reply to a request for touch upon Saturday.