Just one year after taking office, Jacques Lacombe is leaving his position as artistic director of the Orchestre classique de Montréal (OCM) amid disagreements with general director Taras Kulish. In a Facebook post, the maestro spoke of “the existence of a harmful work climate,” which the orchestra’s management deplored on Wednesday.
In his message published Monday on social networks, Jacques Lacombe never names Taras Kulish in full. But we understand that he blames him for the difficult work climate that reigns within the organization and which led to the recent departure of two employees of the administration. The conductor also reproaches the general director for “numerous actions and decisions contrary to good practices recognized in the professional environment.”
“This is all the more unfortunate since the CEO also has several good qualities and good growth potential that he does not seem to want to promote or aspire to the rigor and excellence that should be the OCM’s trademark,” he wrote.
In an interview at DutyJacques Lacombe said he wanted to write this message to clarify the reasons for his departure, since the OCM had just announced that he was leaving his position without giving further details, “which could have suggested all sorts of things.”
“I wanted to preserve my reputation. In my field, when there is a sudden departure, we wonder if it is not a case of harassment or #MeToo. However, it is not. I also wanted to send the message to future employers that it was not my decision to leave after just one year, as the OCM press release could have suggested,” he said.
Jacques Lacombe was the long-time conductor of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. Then, from 2006 to 2018, he led the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières. He was named conductor and artistic director of the OCM last year, succeeding longtime conductor Boris Brott, who tragically died in April 2022 after being struck by a car in a hit-and-run.
“Semi-professional” ways of doing things
After taking office, Jacques Lacombe says he made an effort to raise the level of the orchestra, and was pleased with the progress made in recent months. However, he regrets that Taras Kulish’s general management constantly put obstacles in his way with “its ways of doing things” inherited from “semi-professional orchestras”. Jacques Lacombe says he repeatedly requested a meeting with the board of directors to express his dissatisfaction. Ultimately, this never took place. He says he learned in May that his five-year contract was terminated.
“I knew that I had a different profile from Boris Brott. I was aware that the arrival of a new musical director in an orchestra always causes a period of adaptation. But I did not believe that I would observe so many ways of functioning that did not correspond to what I have known in my experience,” the maestro recalled.
Taras Kulish, a professional singer, has been the general director of the current OCM since 2018. From 2013 to 2016, he was the senior director of the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the former name of the Orchestre classique de Montréal. He did not respond to our interview request.
On the OCM’s Facebook page, the board of directors reiterated its confidence in him on Wednesday. “The Orchestre classique de Montréal disagrees with the comments made by Maestro Jacques Lacombe following the OCM’s decision to terminate his contract and deplores the fact that he chose to make such comments in public. At all times, the OCM has been guided by the best interests of the Orchestra,” it was also stated.