Paris (AFP)

The Sacred Music association at Notre Dame de Paris warned on Wednesday that the boycott of masses by choir students to protest dismissals related to the cathedral fire could have legal consequences.

"The questioning of the reorganization and the necessary savings could lead to the supervision of the Sacred Music file at Notre-Dame de Paris under the responsibility of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris", warned the association.

In a statement released Tuesday, a group of 22 choir students, former singers and parents had denounced "extremely serious procedures for five dismissals, totally abusive and unjustified" and announced that they refused to sing the same evening at a concert planned in Saint-Sulpice church.

These procedures are aimed in particular at the head of the medieval sacred music department, Sylvain Dieudonné.

Sacred music at Notre Dame de Paris, which manages the Maîtrise, had justified the layoffs as essential budgetary consolidation measures which come in response to a recent alert procedure from the auditor.

The cathedral fire on April 15 and "the substantial reduction in our concert season resulted in the loss of a quarter of our operating budget in a matter of months," she said.

"The reorganization decisions in no way lead to the cessation of the practice of Gregorian chant and medieval music, nor of their teaching", wanted to reassure the association.

The Notre-Dame fire on April 15 sparked extraordinary mobilization in France and around the world: € 922 million in donations and pledges were confirmed by several foundations responsible for collecting, i.e. 320,000 donations to total.

If "most of the sums collected by the Notre-Dame Fund, placed under the aegis of the Notre-Dame Foundation" are intended for the Notre-Dame site, "a partial allocation is provided according to agreements made with several patrons", said the MSNDP. A fund dedicated to Masters has also been opened to receive donations.

"Thanks to generous donors", part of the negative effects of the loss of revenue "could be contained," said the association.

© 2019 AFP