Melbourne Symphony Orchestra cancels recital by pianist who criticized Israel, then says it made a ‘mistake’

The Gaza war is having repercussions even on the Australian classical music scene. The controversy began on Sunday 11 August. On stage, the Australian-British pianist Jayson Gillham dedicated a piece to the “Gaza journalists”, because according to him, some of them were victims “targeted assassinations” from the IDF. In the process, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra cancelled another concert by the pianist, scheduled for Thursday, August 15, explaining that it was inappropriate to use its performance stage “to express personal opinions.”

After facing heavy criticism, the orchestra was forced to apologise on Thursday for its “error” for canceling Jayson Gillham’s concert, which he considers to be “one of the best pianists of his generation.” But he maintained that a concert stage was not a place “appropriate for making political comments”, specifying that Thursday’s performance remained cancelled for security reasons “security”.

A committed artist, Gillham had previously performed in a benefit concert for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. Following his removal from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s schedule, the Australian musicians’ union 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 war in Gaza began ten months ago. The Forbidden Stories media consortium, which includes the international editorial team of Radio France, documented how journalists were targeted in Gaza in its investigative piece “The Gaza Project.”

The Israeli army claims that it “does not specifically target journalists”, but that it has the right to target supporters of Hamas, the organization that carried out the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack against Israel that sparked the war.