—By Chief Editor, Katie Berglof
SEATTLE, WA. — Throughout my time at the Seattle Symphony, I encountered moments that tested my values and resilience. However, my decision to leave has to do with whistleblowing and my unwavering belief in integrity and accountability—qualities that often clash with the politics of self-preservation in large institutions.
Institutions must stop using the loopholes in policies to silence whistleblowers and shielding harmful behavior, even if it's in another orchestra. Change starts when we choose courage over silence, even when it comes at a personal cost.
One of the defining catalysts for my departure was a troubling series of interactions with a legendary oboist named Alex Klein in the Calgary Philharmonic.
The first instance came after James Levine’s passing when he shared a post glorifying Levine, ignoring his history of sexual abuse. When asked to remove it out of respect for victims, he got offended and started accusing the people who were advocating for the victims of shaming. His defense revealed his deep-seated denial of systemic issues.
After I showed how disappointed I was, he took it down and we had a conversation where I explained what grooming was to him, but he dismissed me by arguing that “everyone knew” about the sexual abuse, and that Levine is not guilty “without proof” no matter how horrendous the allegations were. See photos of part of our conversation below.
Our second interaction, in person, was more concerning. For some reason he brought up the subject of student-teacher affairs again when I visited him during the Bellingham Symphony Festival. He openly condoned inappropriate relationships between music faculty and students at his festival FEMUSC - Festival de Música de Santa Catarina, claiming such dynamics were “natural” in Brazil and acceptable if consensual. He said he would not reprimand his music staff for what went on behind closed doors. I disagreed, but he talked right over me.
Apparently, I am not the only one he's shared these views with. Please see photos below.
“He seems to have some sort of fixation on this topic, as when I was a student of his he strongly encouraged me to go to bed with whomever whenever to advance my oboe career. ‘Jacqueline du Pré slept with Rostropovich to get where she got,’ was some of his sage advice.” - Stina Drogovich Peña
A year later, I reached out to him via email to connect him with a hand dystonia researcher that wanted to get in touch with him, but he used the opportunity to unload his sexist rants, complaints about students attempting to report him for misconduct, and criticisms of Katherine Needleman, calling her a "Queen of Filth," among other things.
Even more alarming was when he brought up misconduct allegations against him, involving two oboe students at DePaul University School of Music, which he claimed were fabricated—that one of them had “hacked” his email to incriminate him. [Please note he made a similar claim about his "Queen of Filth" rant after Katherine posted it online— he emailed Katherine and said his colleagues hacked his email to write all these defamatory messages that he sent to me, followed by screenshots of Slavko Popovic and Brent Hages talking trash and degrading her].
He also accused me of "liking" a post by one of the students who attempted to "spread rumors," even though I had no connection to them. I was very confused and taken back by his condescending behavior towards me, as it came out of nowhere.
He then proceeded to make more defamatory remarks about Katherine Needleman and explained how to be a feminist. [Later on, I found out that he's close friends with David Blumberg and Harold Emert who harbor hateful biases towards Katherine, so this made more sense, though completely unacceptable. These men are known for slandering, and even threatening her publicly, and often attempt to smear-campaign her. Katherine has often shared their demeaning and sexist degrading remarks publicly. I was not aware he was in their circle until others told me. This further disappointed me in Alex that he would associate with them.]
He justified leaving Facebook, blaming a woke movement that he believed had gone too far and due to misconduct allegations circulating. See photos of email conversation below.
I felt like I was experiencing DARVO, which is a manipulation strategy/tactic and acronym that means: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim, and Offend. Except I had never confronted him about misconduct allegations when I reached out to him about focal hand dystonia, and I think he was subconsciously projecting onto me as if I were his student (the accuser) who tried to report him, when I had nothing to do with any of his situation at DePaul. I've added some more information on DARVO. Please see slides below.
Over time, I realized Alex Klein's behavior was unhinged, and I regretted not recognizing the red flags sooner, or asking questions about his behavior sooner. This was because I considered him a friend since we related over having a disabling disorder called musicians’ dystonia. But his distorted views on sexism and approval of sexual affairs with students made it clear he was unfit to oversee any program, especially given his stance on student-teacher relationships.
Around the same time, I came across The Guardian article covering the 'open secret' of sexual abuse in El Sistema Venezuela written by reporter Geoff Baker, where violinist Luigi Mazzocchi affirmed that teacher-student relationships were “the norm", and teachers would actually say it out loud: ‘I do this [have sexual relationships] with my students because I think we’re actually helping them become better musicians, better violinists.’"
I thought about what Alex said about approving student-teacher relationships at FEMUSC, which is an El Sistema-inspired organization. Then I thought about his music students at DePaul.
I became concerned about the students who attempted to report him and wondered if they were okay, and if he had a hidden reputation I didn't know about.
That lead me to oboist and advocate Katherine Needleman. Again, it took a lot of courage to reach out to Katherine because in many ways I felt like I was betraying a friend, but I knew I had to speak up about this concerning behavior.
I showed Katherine Needleman the message where he referred to her as a “Queen of Filth”, as well as the rest of the email, and asked if she knew anything about his history and if the students were okay. I’m not an oboe player and don’t have connections to the oboe community like Katherine does.
After Katherine published part of his message (not all of it; and she redacted Alex’s name) on her page, Alex reached out to both me and Katherine asking it to be taken down.
However, what's interesting is when he messaged Katherine, he tried to convince her that he was on her side and that it was his colleagues Slavko Popovic and Brent Hages that hacked into his email and sent the "Queen of Filth"messages to me. He tried to convince her of this by sending images of Slavko and Brent slandering her, to make her believe that they were responsible for the defamatory messages he wrote about her. Which just made him look even worse.
It was also an insult to both Katherine and I for him to assume we'd be so stupid as to believe him and his feeble attempt to deflect accountability for his own actions. Also it made us realize that he hadn't reported these two men's behavior to his orchestra before, which is what he should have done if he truly did not support their sexist slandering. They clearly would have been reprimanded long ago. And also from Katherine's images she can see that Alex deleted himself from these facebook messages below. See images below.
Not too long after Katherine published the "Queen of Filth" part of Alex's email on her page, the Calgary Philharmonic's CEO, Marc Stevens, contacted me about their ongoing investigations. I agreed to assist, and eventually, both Alex Klein and Slavko Popovic (whom Alex threw under the bus) were fired this past May (2024) from the orchestra.
Slavko Popovic has been investigated for racist remarks in the past, as this was not the first time musicians have called out the Calgary Philharmonic on Popovic's racist remarks publically. In that case it was the IG account #orchestraisracist that called on the Calgary Phil to investigate Popkovic in 2020.
Brent Hages, who still plays in the Yakima Symphony Orchestra in Washington state is accused of being involved in a federal hate crime.
After Alex was fired, someone informed me that he wanted to do a smear-campaign with David Blumberg or Harold Emert on Katherine, and also get diagnosed with neurodivergence to account for his unhinged behavior. [This now reminds me of the recent news of smear campaign attempts on actress Blake Lively where her harasser was exposed for plotting to use neurodivergence as a way try to avoid sexual assault charges and make Blake Lively look in the wrong].
So when I heard about Alex wanting to participate in a smear campaign, I of course didn’t want to believe he would attempt such a horrible thing, and I’m glad to see he hasn’t resorted completely to David Blumbergs level of seeking vengeance on Katherine Needleman.
But the fact that Alex had those FB messages with Slavko Popkovic and Brent Hages slandering Katherine Needleman and never reported them before to his orchestra; and is also friends with David Blumberg and Harold Emert raised a lot of red flags for me.
After the Calgary Philharmonic fired Alex, I was informed that Alex, much similar to Slavko, had a paper trail behind him, and that other investigations had been going on prior and not just this singular incident/investigation.
I had no idea what to think of all of this. All I knew was that I felt sick to my stomach wondering why I trusted Alex, and I was saddened that someone I once thought was a good and decent person, had a paper trail behind him of what I can only assume is similar behavior. I was glad to see the investigation over with.
However, my involvement in the Calgary Philharmonic investigation came at a personal cost.
My own workplace, the Seattle Symphony, suspended me and issued a final warning, citing a breach of digital policy because Alex Klein’s “Queen of Filth” email had been sent to my work email account and not my personal email.
Despite my good intentions to shed light on his sexist and misogynistic behavior, my concern for his students and other musicians working with him, my own HR department saw me as a potential lawsuit that could bring negative attention to the Seattle Symphony.
Though they will claim I left voluntarily, I felt forced out. I knew they saw me as nothing but a liability after this disciplinary action, especially after a third-party HR coach was brought in to “help” me but mostly criticized me for putting the organization in a vulnerable position, which of course was never my intention. I was called a "bad employee", told I majorly f**cked up, that there were board members that wanted me fired, and that I was not cut out for this field.
After resigning a few weeks later and leaving the Seattle Symphony two days before my 40th birthday, I accepted an HR Coordinator job closer to home, but the stress and depression from all the prior events took their toll on me.
Losing my dream job was as devastating as it was when I was diagnosed with musicians' dystonia—reliving a second loss of a lifelong dream all over again. And it happened so quickly and out of control like a tornado, I had no time to process what happened.
Even though it was an administrative role and paid very little, I was happy to find a way to continue supporting musicians, and I was one of the staff that brought diversity to the organization.
I was grateful to have served in various roles at the Seattle Symphony from Office Administrator, to COVID Coordinator, Office Assistant, Interim Executive Assistant to the President & CEO, and Development Intern. I was on the steering committee for the Northwest Orchestra Gathering, became DEI Certified, and served on an advisory council for the arts.
I put my best foot forward as an ambassador since my role as their Office Administrator in People & Culture/HR connected everyone across the organization. I put my whole heart into my work and I loved getting to know everyone and enjoyed supporting them in the work they do.
I was able to see how a professional orchestra nonprofit functions from a birdseye view, which I was grateful for because I wanted to start my own nonprofit someday to continue supporting musicians.
It hurt to walk away. And it still hurts. But I am not willing to sacrfice my morals and humanity over a company.
After leaving, I learned that I was not alone. A handful of Seattle Symphony employees reached out to me who were terminated (recently and in the past) without 'just cause' (i.e., meaning there was no performance review track on record or disciplinary actions that led up to their termination, meaning the company used 'At-Will Employment' to fire them).
This is usually what companies do when they want to downsize or save on budget. They fire people and keep it silent, giving the person a severance paycheck and granting them unemployment while hoping the terminated employee won't speak out or have a chance to speak with their colleagues about what happened to them. This process is often used as a convenient loophole for companies to remove employees without explicitly stating performance-related reasons, especially when management holds personal biases against certain staff members or perceives them as a threat. These situations can arise when a manager feels intimidated by an employee's skills, experience, or popularity among colleagues, viewing them as competition rather than an asset to the team.
By framing the termination as a business decision—citing downsizing, budget constraints, or restructuring—management can mask the true motives behind the dismissal. This strategy enables them to sidestep legal risks associated with wrongful termination claims by offering severance packages and granting access to unemployment benefits. These gestures are often presented as a goodwill effort, but they primarily serve to discourage the terminated employee from taking legal action or airing grievances publicly.
Moreover, the hush-hush nature of such terminations benefits the company by preventing disruption to team morale and maintaining control of the narrative. Employees left behind often don’t receive clear explanations, fostering confusion and fear rather than solidarity. Without transparency, colleagues may hesitate to ask questions, fearing their own job security. This lack of communication leaves terminated employees isolated, unable to advocate for themselves or uncover patterns of potential bias, favoritism, or unjust practices.
In essence, this approach allows management to discreetly remove individuals they don't "like" or feel "inferior" to, without addressing the deeper, systemic issues in the workplace culture. It reflects a misuse of power, prioritizing personal preferences or insecurities over fairness, accountability, and the value of diverse perspectives and talents within the organization.
They don't care that the staff are equally invested in the mission as much as the musicians. If they did care, they wouldn't blindside staff when terminating them.
Out of five people who reached out to me, at least four of the people, including myself, who were pushed out or fired were of color, and three were women. The hypocrisy of an organization that claims to value staff, embraces diversity and inclusion, has a Chief Diversity Officer (who oversees staff retention, fair and equal practices, and oversees the People & Culture/HR department), and provides DEI roundtables for staff and musicians was…..glaring.
My fired colleagues experiences, although not related to my situation, were harrowing, stating that they were abruptly told their positions were terminated, and then escorted directly off the property without any notice or chance to say goodbye to their friends and colleagues.
I lost complete faith in the President & CEO Krishna Thiagarajan (whom I briefly Interim Executive Assisted without executive pay in 2022) and my former department (People & Culture/HR: Paul Johnson and Daniel Ecklor) after I heard about these silent terminations. I saw how deeply hurt and betrayed these staff and musicians felt, and how much it negatively impacted their lives with long-lasting repercussions.
I was especially disheartned because I had written to the President & CEO in my exit interview about the organization needing a Chief of Staff to provide better accountability over HR, Vice Presidents, and middle managers handling of direct reports and grievances.
A Chief of Staff helps address problems with proactivity, rather than reactivity when major grievances or situations such as mine arise. When management is too busy protecting themselves or the company, the staff need someone they can trust standing by them and whom they can go to without fear of being fired, silenced, penalized, or met with complete disregard, criticism, or apathy.
[I also want to mention here another common practice that is used in organizations to silence others who bring up major grievances, is the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs or CDAs) or proprietary information agreements (PIAs). There are countless cases in music schools and music institutions that go unheard of due to the use of these to silence people from speaking out, just like in Cara Kizer's case.]
Staff who work under the Seattle Symphony leadership carry out the logistics of the mission of the nonprofit organization. The fact that the SSO easily tosses out the staff who serve their mission in this cruel method of termination speaks volumes about the toxic culture that still exists and is perpetuated by leadership. Nonprofits should never be treated like they are large corporations like Boeing where people are treated like numbers.
It doesn't help that the VP of People & Culture and Chief Diveristy Officer, Paul Johnson comes from a corporate background working in HR leadership for Boeing and Starbucks, and the HR manager, Daniel Ecklor does not come from a nonprofit background or music background either.
It's the CEO's job to ensure management does not abuse their power. But I feel he hasn't protected the staff and musicians in the way that they deserve. I dislike the way nonprofits often govern their staff in the same manner as large for-profit corporations, with HR departments at the helm of people management. HR, by design, exists to protect the organization, not the employees.
Similarly, the CEO’s primary responsibility is to safeguard the organization, which often means they defer to HR’s decisions and rarely question their motives. I've seen this reflected through the VP of Marketing, Christy Wood, when it comes to over-monitoring staff's social media and intimidating staff directly.
From my experience in HR, I’ve seen firsthand how employees are too often treated as expendable, discarded without genuine consideration for their contributions or circumstances. This disheartening reality is one of the reasons I am now part of a union supporting another union. I strongly advocate for arts administrators to unionize to protect themselves and their rights.
There’s a reason HR departments frequently engage in union-busting efforts. They are trained in tactics to exploit every loophole available, often employing strategies designed to intimidate or discourage staff from organizing. These actions reinforce a power imbalance, leaving employees vulnerable.
Unionization provides a vital counterbalance, empowering workers to protect themselves and ensuring they have a voice in the workplace. This is even more important in classical music organizations that are stepped in old traditions, undermining, and politics that often make the work environment toxic for workers.
I have one more example of contradicting messages by the Seattle Symphony managment I'd like to share here, even though I know this testimony is long.
I included a photo below that the Seattle Symphony & Opera Players' Organization (i.e., the musician's union) took in solidarity with Cara Kizer. The day after it was posted on Seattle Symphony's social media, I tried to share it to the Seattle Symphony Slack Channel (an app that administration uses to communicate with everyone) to thank anyone who made this photo possible and how meaningful it was.
The VP of Marketing, Christy Wood, went to my HR manager (Daniel Ecklor) and had him delete my thank you note and photo. She stopped by my desk and informed me that the musicians were taking a risk by posing in that photo with Cara. She said that the photo would have not gotten published if it were not for the musicians' union pushing for it.
She said our CEO is conservative and that she didn't want to cause a stir among the staff, because not everyone knows about the article about Cara and the NY Phil, and it could be troubling to them. She made it very clear that the photo represented the musicians' union support of Cara Kizer, but NOT managements, the board, or CEOs support. See photo below.
With all of this said, this entire experience has been nothing short of draining.
In the months since, I've been focused on receiving PTSD counseling, starting my classical music journal (Harpsichords & Hot Sauce), and launching the “Courage Over Silence” defense fundraising campaign which have helped me feel a sense of purpose again, and to feel like I can overcome what happened. “Courage Over Silence” has raised over 5K in only a week, and several musicians have reached out to me with their stories, thanks, and support.
I also found some solace by finally being able to reach out and speak with one of the students who confirmed their allegations against Alex. It was relieving talking to them for the first time. However, they do not feel safe coming forward publicly. I was notified by others that Alex Klein is no longer listed on DePaul University's oboe faculty and performance faculty site.
I was glad to know his former student was doing okay, and they thanked me for worrying about them after reading Alex’s message, and for bringing some accountability to the two men in the Calgary Philharmonic, even though it wasn't just me who was involved with the investigation.
Many musicians who have been subjected to Alex Klein's behavior have contacted me as well, and it's nice to know I wasn’t the only one who saw red flags and warning signals going off.
I shouldn’t have to justify why someone of this magnitude and influence (i.e., Alex), shouldn’t oversee educational programs and teachers when he openly condones and encourages student-teacher relationships; nor should I have to explain why other musicians (especially women) should not risk being subjected to his discriminatory/sexist and unhinged behavior.
When one person speaks up, it allows others to come forward without fear too.
Again, I fully understand why the Seattle Symphony disciplined me for being a huge liability risk. I understand that the People & Culture/HR team (Paul Johnson and Daniel Ecklor) and President & CEO (Krishna Thiagarajan) were just doing their legal responsibility of protecting the company and following protocol.
They were just doing their jobs.
And that's all it is —“just a job"—or so I've been told countless times by Paul Johnson, the VP of People & Culture/Chief Diversity Officer, "If you don't like it, you can always go somewhere else,” is the advice that he would give to staff, including me. That advice alone should show you how much he truly cares about the people who work for the Seattle Symphony.
Why care about serving the people when "it's just a job”?
Why care about changing this industry when "it's just a job”?
My work has never been "just a job" to me.
I know the President & CEO and HR were also trying to avoid being embroiled in another scandal that brought national attention like former music director Thomas Dausgaard did when he resigned and reported to The Seattle Times, “I felt personally not safe. I felt threatened.” He went on to explain that the managers allegedly tried tactics to intimidate him and that the organization became "ruled by fear."
However, I don't have that kind of influential power as Thomas Dausgaard to bring that type of national attention, I am not that important and shouldn't have been treated as such an enormous threat to the image of the Seattle Symphony.
Also my involvement with the Calgary Philharmonic investigation was solely focused on whistleblowing. Whereas Dausgaard's situation arose out of a restrained relationship with management, compacted by travel restrictions, and the board not renewing his contract.
I needed to share my story here so that I can finally move on and heal. But my testimony isn’t solely about what I went through—it’s about the need to dismantle a culture that allows the silencing of whistleblowers to persist.
The Seattle Symphony CEO (Krishna Thiagarajan) and HR department (Paul Johnson and Daniel Ecklor) followed standard protocol, but the way they handled my situation still felt like punishment for whistleblowing:
It still felt like suppression and the organization prioritizing image and reputation over serving it's own people.
It still felt like clean cut policies were used to justify treating me like I was a horrible human being.
It still felt like I was an undervalued person of color easily pushed out and not given the time of day.
Even throughout all the hardship and tears shed, I have no regret with the decision I made to help others, and I refuse to sacrifice my morals and principles for a company and paycheck.
I know I’m on the right side of history.
If anything, I hope my story sheds light on how much organizational and institutional leadership plays a role in preventing whistleblowers from doing good and speaking up.
Change starts when we choose courage over silence, even when it comes at a personal cost.
I will continue to speak out, knowing that my story—and others like mine—can spark the change this industry so desperately needs.
The Courage Over Silence Campaign Fundraiser:
My Classical Music Orchestra Journal:
Katherine Needleman's post from last spring:
If you are experiencing anything related to sexual harassment/assault or trying to find help, please know you are not alone, and there are places that can support and guide you. I’ve listed some resources below:
National Sexual Assault Hotline
Website: www.rainn.org
Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Website: www.thehotline.org
Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
Futures Without Violence
Website: www.futureswithoutviolence.org
Services: Programs to address domestic violence and sexual assault.
Love Is Respect
Website: www.loveisrespect.org
Hotline: 1-866-331-9474
Services: Support for dating abuse and unhealthy relationships
(c) Harpsichords & Hot Sauce, 2024
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