‘STRONG FEELINGS’

New York Philharmonic Benches 2 Musicians Embroiled in Sex Assault Scandal

Matthew Muckey and Liang Wang were fired by the orchestra in 2018 after a female musician accused them of sexual misconduct. They were reinstated two years later.

The New York Philharmonic on Monday said that two musicians it had been forced to rehire after firing them in 2018 for sexual misconduct would not be allowed to practice or play with the ensemble for the immediate future, a day after a report detailing the extent of the alleged misconduct was published in New York magazine. Gary Ginstling, the Philharmonic’s president and chief executive, confirmed to The New York Times in an interview that Matthew Muckey, an associate principal trumpet, and Liang Wang, the principal oboist, had been indefinitely benched. He told the Times that New York’s article, in which former Philharmonic horn player Cara Kizer shared her experience of being drugged and raped after spending an evening with Muckey and Wang in 2010, had “prompted a lot of strong feelings” among the orchestra. He declined to say whether they’d be reinstated or fired. But Ginstling noted that the Philharmonic might be constrained by an independent arbiter’s finding in 2020 that Muckey and Wang had been terminated without just cause, a ruling handed down after the musician’s union challenged their dismissal. Representatives for the Philharmonic did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Daily Beast on Monday night.