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NY Trinity Church FIRES its acclaimed music director who's married to female reverend

NY Trinity Church FIRES its acclaimed music director who's married to female reverend
A woman alleged he pushed her against a wall, groped and kissed her as she demanded he stop at 2014 music festival
Julian Wachner was fired Monday from his role as music director at Trinity Wall Street Church in New York City
His termination came in wake of sexually misconduct allegations made by former Julliard employee Mary Poole
Poole claims Wachner pushed her against a wall at South Carolina musical festival in 2014, groped her and kissed her despite her demanding he stop
Wachner, through his attorney, has denied the allegations and said he is 'disappointed that Trinity acted prior to completing a thorough investigation'
Wachner has been married to a local minister, Rev. Emily Wachner, since 2012 and the pair apparently share two children

By NATASHA ANDERSON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/
14 March 2022

New York City's powerful Trinity Wall Street Church has fired its acclaimed music director who is married to a female priest after another woman accused him of sexual misconduct.

Julian Wachner, 53 - who is married to a female reverend, Emily Wachner, with whom he has children - was fired from Trinity on Monday after he had been placed on leave Saturday in wake of assault accusations made by former Juilliard School employee Mary Poole.

Poole, 32, accused Wachner of pushing her against a wall at South Carolina musical festival in 2014, groping her and kissing her despite her demanding that he stop.

An investigation was launched into the allegations and remains ongoing. However, the church's rector, Rev. Phillip A. Jackson, announced Monday that Trinity had terminated Wachner's employment.

'The investigation is ongoing, and thus the investigator has not yet made any determination about the veracity of the 2014 allegations,' the church said in a statement published online.

'Still, we have concluded based on recent information that Julian has otherwise conducted himself in a manner that is inconsistent with our expectations of anyone who occupies a leadership position. For this reason, Trinity has decided to end Julian's employment with Trinity as of today.'

Emily Wachner referred DailyMail.com to her attorneys when contacted for a comment about her husband's alleged behavior.

Former Julliard employee Mary Poole claims Wachner pushed her against a wall at South Carolina musical festival in 2014, groped her and kissed her despite her demanding he stop

Wachner has denied Poole's allegations and, according to his lawyer, is 'exceptionally disappointed' in Trinity's decision to fire him despite the investigation being ongoing.

'We are exceptionally disappointed that Trinity has acted prior to completing a thorough investigation,' attorney Andrew Miltenberg told DailyMail.com in a statement Monday. 'Depriving Mr. Wachner of the benefit of the full narrative is the antithesis of due process and allows distortions to triumph over the truth.'

He added: 'Mr. Wachner continues to dispute the nearly decade-old, misleading and untrue allegations made against him.'

Poole, however, has applauded the decision and argued that it remains important the church conducts a thorough investigation into Wachner's alleged conduct.

'I hope this is the beginning of a bigger conversation about how we handle harassment in classical music, and how conductors are often held on a pedestal,' she told the New York Times. 'Everybody needs to be held accountable for the same kind of appropriate behavior in the workplace.'

'Still, we have concluded based on recent information that Julian has otherwise conducted himself in a manner that is inconsistent with our expectations of anyone who occupies a leadership position. For this reason, Trinity has decided to end Julian's employment with Trinity as of today,' the church said Monday. Wachner is pictured conducting in Dec. 2013

Poole's allegations stem from an incident at the Juilliard in Aiken festival that she helped organize in 2014. The festival featured Wachner and the acclaimed Trinity choir.

She claims that one evening, Wachner approached her at a house where the Julliard staff members were staying and requested she get him a beverage.

As she was preparing the drink, Wachner allegedly started groping and kissing her for nearly two minutes. Poole told the Times she repeatedly asked him to stop.

Poole, who was 24 at the time of the alleged incident, said she did not report the assault to police because she was in another state and had limited time due to being in the middle of a tour.

'I felt like I could not defend myself,' Poole recalled, adding that she was worried she would face professional consequences for speaking up.

She did report the incident to Julliard and the school reportedly vowed never to hire Wachner again.

The famed music conservatory issued a statement to the newspaper Saturday, reading: 'Sexual misconduct or discrimination are not tolerated at Juilliard, and we take all allegations very seriously.

'At the time we offered our full support to Ms. Poole and informed Mr. Wachner that he would not be invited back to Juilliard in the future. Since that time we have had no relationship with Mr. Wachner.'

END

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