Just in: Swiss suspends bassoon professor for alleged misconduct

It is reported that the well-known Italian bassoonist Sergio Azzolini has been dismissed from the Basel Music Academy for alleged mistreatment of students. We have no independent confirmation. The matter was reported on social media by his harpsichord accompanist Rosalía Gómez Lasheras:

I am writing this post to spread the news that the renowned bassoonist Sergio Azzolini has been expelled from the Basel Music Academy for violating the personal integrity of the students. You may be wondering why I think it is my turn to act as a spokesperson for this fact. Well, I have decided to do so because, although this information has been official since April, I perceive a certain secrecy about it in my environment – which happens to be closely linked to the accused -. I believe that this news is relevant at a public level and that society deserves to know the consequences of attitudes such as those that characterized Azzolini’s pedagogy. In case it is not already clear: in my view, Sergio Azzolini is indeed an abuser of power and should not be leading a class in any academic institution. I mention this last point because something tells me that other European universities hope that this incident will not have too much impact so that they can be the next to welcome him as a professor in their faculty without too much trouble.
I have been in regular contact with Sergio Azzolini for almost 10 years: first as a student and later as a collaborator. I must admit that, like many others, I was fascinated by Sergio’s musical personality, I followed him closely during my studies and I would be lying if I said that he is not one of my main musical influences to this day. Since 2019 I have been the harpsichord accompanist of his class at the conservatory, a job he himself created (normally professors at the Classical Institute do not receive accompaniment lessons on historical instruments, but Sergio was Sergio) and for which I was never contractually employed, but that is another topic. I will clarify this for those of you who are thinking: “If he was so problematic, why didn’t she report it earlier?”. My position was complicated due to the insecurity of my job. Precedents were not encouraging either: MAB is known to ignore several such claims in the past.
During all this time, I have experienced many of Azzolini’s abusive behaviors first hand and witnessed many others. And no, we are not talking about simple “unorthodox manners” as the many (many) people who defend him say. We are talking about a systematic violation of physical and psychological boundaries: disrespect, abusive and discriminatory language, manipulation and, last but not least, a wide range of inappropriate behaviors towards women. The latter, to put it elegantly, often continued outside of class as well.
This behavior is frighteningly normal in positions of power, especially in the artistic field. A professor has an obligation to provide a safe space for students. This requirement should be non-negotiable, regardless of the ability they demonstrate as musicians. The “crazy, eccentric, you-know-what-he-is” Sergio Azzolini is no exception.