The Australian orchestra said on Thursday it had made a mistake in cancelling a performance by a renowned Australian-British pianist who had criticized Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and denounced “targeted assassinations”.
At a concert on Sunday, Australian-British pianist Jayson Gillham dedicated a piece to « Gaza journalists »some of whom he said were victims “targeted assassinations” by Israeli forces. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra subsequently cancelled another concert by the pianist scheduled for Thursday, saying it was inappropriate to use its performance stage “to express personal opinions”.
The band describes Jayson Gillham, who had previously performed at a benefit concert for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, as “one of the best pianists of his generation”. However, after heavy criticism, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra was forced to apologise on Thursday for its “error” for canceling the concert.
But he again ruled that a concert stage was not a place “suitable for making political comments”specifying that Thursday’s performance remained cancelled for security reasons. “security”The Australian musicians’ union – the Music, Entertainment and Arts Alliance – accused the orchestra of overreacting by saying that « music and art exist in a political and social context ».
The Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that 113 journalists have been killed since the start of the Gaza war ten months ago. The Israeli military stresses that it « does not specifically target journalists »but that it has the right to target supporters of Hamas, the organization that carried out the bloody October 7 attacks on Israel that sparked the war.