New York Philharmonic trumpeter fired for sexual misconduct says accuser lied

A woman who had fling with a New York Philharmonic trumpet player allegedly changed her tune about their tryst — and got him booted from the prestigious orchestra, he claimed in a lawsuit.

Matthew Muckey, third trumpet with the Philharmonic, was fired in October after his unnamed ex-lover apparently claimed they had sex when she was too drunk to consent.

But Muckey, 40, insists in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit that she knew what she was doing during their relationship and even raved about his performance.

“Awwww you’re really the best thanks for everything, yes, even the sex,” she allegedly wrote to him via Facebook Messenger after their 2008 encounter. “It was pretty good.”

Muckey was exonerated of earlier misconduct allegations, his lawyer said. New York Philharmonic

But 16 years later questions arose about Muckey’s relationship with the woman, identified in court papers only as C.S.

The Philharmonic hired Levy Employment Law to investigate the claim and question Muckey, a California native who joined the famed orchestra in 2006 and who’d previously faced accusations of rape and sexual misconduct.

He provided proof — her messages to him — that their encounter was consensual.

“Not only did C.S. explicitly recall having sex . . . she both complimented and thanked [Muckey] for the sex and asked for his telephone number,” according to court papers.

The pair had sex twice, according to messages included in the lawsuit, in which C.S. begged Muckey not to tell her boyfriend.

“I did consent,” she wrote, according to court docs.

Muckey ended the affair after finding out C.S. had a boyfriend and the two had no more contact until she sent him a 2011 Facebook friend request, he claimed.

He wasn’t allowed to see the evidence which led to his October termination, prompting the trumpet man to file his lawsuit against Levy and the Philharmonic so he can bring C.S. to court for defamation.

Muckey has not worked since he was told to pack up his trumpet.

Now married with two kids,Muckey has been unable to find work since the Philharmonic let him go, according to his attorney. Getty Images

“His career has been destroyed and that’s not an understatement,” said Muckey’s lawyer, Steven Hyman. “He’s unable to get a job anyplace else and he has tried.”

It’s not the first time Muckey, who was set to earn $205,000 base pay as part of the Philharmonic, has been accused of misconduct.

He and another musician with the Philharmonic were fired twice in four years after facing allegations of rape and sexual misconduct in 2018. The two, who denied wrongdoing, were reinstated by an arbitrator in 2020 after their union took up the case. Those previous allegations did not involve C.S., Muckey’s lawyer said.

Muckey, who is now married with two kids, was “fully exonerated” of any wrongdoing by an arbitrator in 2020, Hyman said, adding, “We have no idea really when or where this new claim arose.”

The Philharmonic declined comment on the litigation. Levy Employment Law didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.