Star Conductor Accused of Sexual Misconduct

Trinity Wall Street has placed Julian Wachner, its highly regarded director of music, on leave while it investigates an allegation of an eight-year-old incident of sexual misconduct against him. The alleged wrongdoing took place at a 2014 Juilliard festival in Aiken, S.C., where Wachner is accused of groping and kissing Mary Poole, then a Juilliard employee, without her permission.

“Trinity takes these allegations very seriously,” said a spokesperson for the church, which has hired outside counsel to investigate. The church first learned of the allegations last month from social media. Wachner has strongly denied the accusation through his attorney, who told The New York Times, “Ms. Poole’s outrageous allegations are categorically false and my client looks forward to the matter being resolved.”

Two people interviewed by The Times recalled Poole describing the details of the encounter at the time. She did not report Wachner’s misconduct to the police, in part because she worried that she might suffer professional repercussions due to his influential position in the classical music world. Poole did, however, report the incident to Juilliard, which vowed not to hire Mr. Wachner again. In a statement on March 12, Juilliard did note that it was aware of “unacceptable conduct” by Wachner in 2014.

As director of music and the arts at Trinity, one of the city’s wealthiest churches, Wachner supervises the church’s choir, its Baroque orchestra, and its contemporary ensemble. Together they perform at hundreds of events annually. Wachner has also been nominated for Grammy Awards and has collaborated with such high-profile organizations as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Los Angeles Opera. He has recently emerged as a finalist for the position of artistic director of the Oregon Bach Festival.

The New York Times