Misconduct at Conservatorium van Amsterdam

Misconduct at Conservatorium van Amsterdam

At the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, three teachers frequently made sexist remarks. They also groped students and in at least one case there was unwanted sex. The lecturers have since left.

This is according to an investigation by platform Pointer. The investigative journalists spoke to former students who had studied at two departments of the Amsterdam Conservatorium of Music from 2002 to 2020. Two of the three teachers worked at the classical department.

According to the students, an informal drinking culture prevailed at the academy of music for a long time. Students and lecturers regularly went to the pub together. One former student told Pointer how she stayed overnight at a lecturer’s house after one such evening, too drunk to cycle home.

‘Heartbreaking’
The behaviour of two of the three former lecturers had previously been reported. It was only after students reported again under a new management that something was done about it and two teachers were fired. The third teacher had already retired by then. He was denied access to the academy.

Director Okke Westdorp called it “heartbreaking” in the programme’s broadcast.  An external agency will investigate social safety at the institution. (HOP, PvT)