Met maestro blasts back at accuser

Metropolitan Opera conductor Joseph Colaneri has denied sexual misconduct allegations lodged against him by a woman who claims she was harassed as a young apprentice.

“Truth and integrity are core values by which I live. The allegations which were made against me in the New York Post article of Dec. 17, 2017, are categorically false and completely unfounded. This has been a devastating experience for me and my family,” Colaneri (inset) said in a statement last week.

His agent said he would not speak further about the allegations. Since The Post reported them, numerous people have come forward to defend the maestro’s integrity.

The accuser, a 41-year-old Manhattan pianist who does not want to be identified but who affirmed her account in a sworn affidavit, claims that Colaneri, 62, harassed her while sitting with her in the audience of an opera performance in San Francisco in 2001 when she was 25. Col- aneri was then a visiting conductor at the San Francisco Opera.

Both were recently working at the Mannes School of Music at The New School, where Colaneri headed the opera department and she worked as a part-time musician.

The woman told The Post she sent an anonymous email to the Met complaining about Colaneri earlier this month. Around the same time, she lost her part-time job at Mannes.

The New School initially told The Post it would not comment about its employees. It has since said that “based on our initial review of the facts, Mr. Colaneri had no involvement in the decision to terminate her employment. She was fired for multiple violations of university policy regarding her conduct involving students.” They would not specify the violations.

“It’s news to me,” the accuser said. “They could have explained it to me. There were no reasons given.”

She told The Post she received a sudden notice with no details as to why her employment was terminated.