The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal says it is launching an independent investigation into a sexual harassment complaint it received on Friday against former conductor Charles Dutoit in the wake of a news report this week in which four women alleged he sexually assaulted them.
“The OSM is determined to maintain and intensify its unconditional commitment to respect the dignity and fundamental rights of its musicians and employees,” the OSM’s executive said in a press release issued late Saturday. “In this respect, it sets the bar at zero tolerance level.”
The statement said the OSM’s administration received a complaint about sexual harassment for the first time on Friday afternoon.
The statement also noted Dutoit left the OSM as music director in April 2002.
The OSM executive committee has decided to ask an independent third party to investigate the complaint, the statement said.
However, Pascale Ouimet, the head of public relations for the OSM, said it wasn’t possible for the executive committee to immediately issue the mandate to a third party given the holiday weekend.
The mandate will involve speaking with the person who made the complaint “and with any other who could come forward,” the statement said. The mandate will also include providing support to any alleged victims and to recommend any measures the OSM should adopt to prevent misconduct.
Earlier on Saturday, Dutoit’s office issued its own statement vigorously denying allegations of sexual assault that were made in an Associated Press report on Thursday by three opera singers and a classical musician, who said the incidents occurred on the sidelines of rehearsals and performances in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Saratoga Springs, N.Y., between 1985 and 2010.
Dutoit, 81, is artistic director and principal conductor at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. The orchestra said on Friday it had jointly decided with Dutoit to relieve him of coming concert obligations.
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