Metro

Ol’ fiddler sounds a suer note

A 60-year-old Manhattan violinist wants a shot at the big time — with no strings attached.

Martin Stoner, who lost his job with the New York City Ballet’s orchestra last year after 25 years, thinks the best way to jumpstart a solo career is with a little help from a nonprofit that specializes in launching the careers of young classical musicians.

But Stoner says he’s been stonewalled by Young Concert Artists Inc., which limits competitors to between 19 and 26 years old.

“Unfortunately, in the classical music world, if you begin at a late age, it works against you,” he moaned.

The married father of two has hit hard times since leaving the ballet in March 2009, unable to find work in an industry that, he says, shuts its doors to older musicians.

He wrote to Young Concert Artists, which offers $75,000 worth of career support and management to several winners, asking for the age restrictions for this year’s competition to be waived.

Stoner said he was allowed to perform with 277 others in the preliminary auditions last month only after he threatened to sue and filed age-discrimination complaints with the National Endowment for the Arts and the state Office of Civil Rights.

“I was only asking for equal protection under the laws,” Stoner said.

When he didn’t make it to the semi-finals, Stoner again cited his age. He noted that two of the three competition judges wrote “age 60” on their ballots and circled it.

“This is the kind of thing that you can’t force your way into,” Stoner said of an independent music career. “I want a job. I don’t have any other options.”

So he filed a Manhattan federal court lawsuit against Young Concert Artists and asked the court to delay the semi-finals until he was allowed to participate.

Young Concert Artists lawyer James Mullins protested, telling Judge Robert Patterson Jr. that an injunction would cause hardship to the scheduled performers, most of who are coming from outside New York, and that Stoner has other options.

Patterson refused to stop the semifinals, but Stoner’s suit will proceed.

kathianne.boniello@nypost.com