The San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
In Thursday’s (2/22) Van (Berlin), Jeffrey Alro Brown writes, “When Lara Michaels … was accepted into the violin program at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she [chose] Axel Strauss, a professor of violin and chamber music, to be her primary teacher…. Michaels studied under Strauss for three years without incident. But, according to a civil lawsuit filed in December, Strauss began making sexual advances toward Michaels in the final year of her undergraduate degree. The complaint alleges that in December 2008,” Strauss sexually harassed Michaels. “According to the complaint, brought by Michaels and a second anonymous plaintiff against Strauss and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Strauss allegedly took advantage of his status as a respected professor to arrange interactions … [and] sexually assault them…. John-Paul S. Deol, Strauss’s legal counsel, told VAN, ‘Professor Strauss denies the allegations made by the plaintiffs in their entirety and unequivocally.’… The lawsuit claims that San Francisco Conservatory of Music administrators were aware that Strauss had unreported sexual relationships with female students at the school, but took no action…. A spokesperson for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music did not respond to a request for comment.”
