The New York Philharmonic has fired principal oboist, Liang Wang and associate principal trumpet Matthew Muckey after their union decided not to contest the decision.

The orchestra said on Nov. 4 that it issued a notice of non-reengagement to the two effective Sept. 21, 2025.

Regarding the Philharmonic’s latest investigation, executive adviser Deborah Borda said, “It found that both gentlemen had been involved in sexual abuse and rape as well as abuse of power,” Borda said. “This is all new information that came out and I think the reason is that people were afraid to speak up before and they are not now.” She added that some of the allegations were made by students.

Meanwhile, Muckey’s lawyer Steven J. Hyman said, “Matt Mackey has done nothing wrong. The fact that they’ve attempted to do this is of course violative of his rights. What’s appalling is that the union has agreed to it, and the impact of that is that it renders meaningless this most precious right that orchestra members have of tenure, which ensures that you have a career at the philharmonic and can only be terminated for just cause.”

Wang’s lawyer, Alan S. Lewis told the Associated Press, “Troublingly, the philharmonic has gone down the road of public character assassination instead of due process, throwing a lot of mud against the wall to see what sticks.

The Philharmonic’s decision to fire the two musicians comes after the orchestra hired Tracey Levy of Levy Employment Law to investigate accusations of sexual misconduct and issued a letter of non-re-engagement on Oct. 15 following Levy’s conclusions that the orchestra said were based on new accusations and noted that the majority of the orchestra members did not want the two musicians to return and would refuse to appear on stage with the two.

In April, the New York Magazine published an article detailing alleged sexual misconduct y Mucky and Wang. The article said Muckey and Wang drugged and raped horn player Cara Kizer. The report noted that the night after the incident Kizier found a tampon “that she had put in the previous day had been pushed so far into her vagina she had trouble removing it.” According to the article, while Muckey’s DNA was found in Kizer’s tampon, the DA failed to prosecute as “the hair-follicle test ‘did not meet the standards for litigation.’” The case was then closed and the two musicians remained in the orchestra.

While the New York Philharmonic tried to fire both Muckey and Wang in 2018, it was forced to rehire the musicians after the union challenged the orchestra’s dismissal. In 2020, an independent arbiter found that Muckey and Wang had been terminated without cause. Following the new investigation, the union has stated it will not contest the decision to terminate the two musicians.