A very public conflict among members of Carnegie Hall's board of trustees is roiling the music world. Why is Ronald Perelman, who's been chair of Carnegie's board for less than a year, resigning his position so quickly?
Perelman says he's resigning from the chairperson's seat in protest over what he sees as financial mismanagement—specifically, a lack of transparency and under-policed conflicts of interest—by the Hall's director and his fellow trustees. For their part, the accused are denying any wrongdoing.
A Carnegie trustee since 1988, Perelman has been one of the Hall's biggest donors in recent decades: the venue's main stage is named after him. In February, he was elected to succeed Sanford I. Weill, a banker who had led the Hall for almost 25 years.
There was some grumbling in the classical music community when Perelman said he actually wasn't much of a fan of classical music; he wanted to see the Hall host more pop performers, like it did back in the days when the likes of Judy Garland and Harry Belafonte recorded best-selling live albums there.
Perelman's attitudes towards pop versus classical music are now largely moot, though: earlier this month, he told the board he wouldn't seek re-election next month, leaving the trustees scrambling for a replacement just as the Hall's 2015-2016 season begins.
What's Perelman's beef? He says that there's a "troubling lack of transparency" in the leadership of longtime executive and artistic director Clive Gillinson, and he blames the trustees for not supervising Gillinson more closely. Perelman says he suspended Gillinson last month, only to find the artistic director reinstated by the board's executive committee one day later.
Perelman also says that Carnegie's decision-making is rife with conflicts of interest. In particular, he cites a decision to award a renovation contract to Weill's son-in-law; and also the Hall's decision to host the Warner Music Prize ceremony without sufficiently investigating potential conflicts involving trustee Len Blavatnik, whose firm owns the Warner Music Group.
What do the other trustees say? Gillinson and several trustees who support him have "vigorously denied" the allegations of mismanagement. The board has also hired an attorney to investigate the allegations.
Does any of this matter to you if you're not a member of the highest echelons of New York philanthropy? Well, if you've been happy with Gillinson's leadership, these developments are good news: Carnegie will likely stay the course it's been following for years. If you believe Perelman's allegations (which some observers find entirely plausible), or if you were interested in his long-term artistic vision for the hall, it's a bummer.
Of course, you can always take matters into your own hands and apply to join Carnegie's board of trustees so you can have a vote in the matter. Just get out your checkbook: you're unlikely to make much of an impression without a seven-figure donation.
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