The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has canceled a Thursday performance by classical pianist Jayson Gillham following his comments during a concert on Sunday about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Gillham was scheduled to play a show with the MSO on Thursday at Melbourne Town Hall. But the MSO sent an email to attendees of Sunday’s performance saying that Gillham would no longer be part of the performance and that “customers will be advised of this change to Thursday’s program as soon as possible.” It is also understood that Gillham’s name has been removed from the event details on the MSO website.
On Sunday at the city’s Iwaki Auditorium, Gillham performed “Witness,” a five-minute piece written by Connor D’Netto which the composer said was “dedicated to the journalists of Gaza.” Before playing, Gillham added his own explanation.
“Over the last 10 months, Israel has killed more than 100 Palestinian journalists. A number of these have been targeted assassinations of prominent journalists as they were traveling in marked press vehicles or wearing their press jackets,” Gillham said. “The killing of journalists is a war crime in international law, and it is done in an effort to prevent the documentation and broadcasting of war crimes to the world. In addition to the role of journalists who bear witness, the word ‘witness’ in Arabic is ‘shaheed,’ which also means ‘martyr.’”
The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent organization that promotes press freedom, reports that 113 journalists have been killed during the conflict.
Australian media reported that the MSO issued an apology and condemned Gillham’s remarks.
“The MSO understands that his remarks have caused offense and distress and offers a sincere apology. [The remarks] were an intrusion of personal political views on what should have been a morning focused on a program of works for solo piano,” the statement said. “The MSO does not condone the use of our stage as a platform for expressing personal views.”
Variety has contacted the MSO but has not yet received a response.
The war in Gaza has become a divisive issue in Australia and the cancelation of Gillham’s upcoming performances has divided opinion.
Australian artists’ union the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance said that the MSO’s actions amounted to censorship and described the backlash as “a crisis of its own making.”
“On Sunday [Gillham] played a short, reflective instrumental piece that has been composed in response to the deaths of more than 100 journalists since the war began last October. He introduced the piece by putting it in context and explaining the horrific toll the war has had on press freedom and journalism in Gaza,” the MEAA said. “The response by the management of MSO has been disproportionate and is offensive to the principles of artistic expression. It has caused enormous hurt and distress to Jayson and is disrespectful to his fellow musicians and to our journalist colleagues in Gaza.”
Read the MEAA’s full statement below.
