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Calgary Philharmonic removes two musicians after month-long investigation over ‘troubling comments’

Orchestra did not name the musicians or elaborate on the comments that prompted their removal

In a statement on April 22 announcing the investigation, the orchestra said it was following its code of conduct and working alongside the Calgary Musicians Association union to “urgently” look into the comments, without clarifying their content or author. But prior to the Calgary Philharmonic’s April 22 statement, screenshots were circulated online on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit of a user with Mr. Popovic’s name using slurs against women and Black people. Katherine Needleman, an American oboist and advocate for fairer treatment of marginalized people in the classical music world, surfaced some of those screenshots on her Facebook page in the days before the orchestra announced its investigation.

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