Massimo La Rosa

[Bach5G]

Well Max, ”it's very much not old news” or “this is old news” .

Although, you will note, again, I was discussing Ms. C’s takedown of the arbitrator in the NYP proceeding. I’m not conflating these matters.

[Kbiggs]

Let’s be absolutely clear about this: sexual harassment or assault of anyone—family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, students, etc.—ANYONE is abhorrent and wrong. Period. Perpetrators MUST be held accountable, whether it’s jail, fines, expulsions, terminations, restitution, etc.

Let’s also be clear about the nature of sexual predators: they are very hard to treat. That is, it is very difficult to get them to change their behavior. Remember that sexual predators see others as objects, not as people. Thus, putting them in positions of power is inherently dangerous to those around and underneath them.

LaRosa’s response—to sue his accusers—is typical. It is an attempt to “turn the tables,” and to put forth the narrative that he is the wronged person.

The Cleveland Orchestra, CIM, and the universities involved did what they could, although one could argue that any of them could have taken action sooner. For the time being, it is highly unlikely that LaRossa will be in the States again.

Has he paid a high price? Yes. Is it enough? No, I don’t believe so. His professional career may be tarnished, and he may be persona non grata in the U.S., but that pales in comparison to the cost to the victims in these kinds of cases, which is immense. No amount of treatment and therapy can make the wronged persons “whole” again, i.e., restore them to a time before they were victimized. Appropriate treatment and therapy can help them learn to cope better after such an assault, but it often takes years to learn to cope without the memories of an assault being a daily intrusion into their lives.

Unfortunately, La Rosa is once again in a position of power, teaching at a conservatory in Italy. People in the States can do little about this. However, I hope that any female students who apply to that Italian conservatory do their research and avoid him at all costs. Further, I hope they petition that conservatory to have him removed.

More importantly, I hope that the people who were harmed by La Rosa and Preucil (as well as Muckey and Wiang) have been provided appropriate treatment and counseling, and that they now have teachers who are supportive, understanding, and empathetic. Ideally, it would be nice if La Rosa, Preucil, etc., were forced to pay for any counseling, but that’s unlikely to happen unless the victims sue.

[robcat2075]

Several years ago I was at a festival and happened into a conversation with a string player in the Cleveland Orchestra.

When it came out that I played trombone he was quite excited about that. He said he was good friends with the principal trombone of his orchestra... Massimo LaRosa!

He talked about what a great player "Massimo" was and what a great guy Massimo was and asked if i knew of Massimo.

This was after the first burst of accusations had come out and been circulating among trombone players. If he had been asking about the principal trombone of just about any other orchestra I probably would not have recognized the name but in this case I was able to honestly say, "Yes, I have heard of him..."

I got the impression that Massimo LaRosa is a gregarious and engaging personality and that if i were in the room listening to him deny that he had ever done anything untoward, I'd probably be persuaded.