MSO managing director departs, Peter Garrett to lead independent review

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra managing director Sophie Galaise has departed effective immediately, while former federal arts minister Peter Garrett will review the organisation following the controversial dropping of a pianist over his comments about Gaza.

Galaise, who has been managing director of the MSO since April 2016, will be replaced by Richard Wigley, a musician originally from New Zealand.

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra managing director Sophie Galaise has left the organisation.Credit: Laura Manariti

Garrett, the frontman of rock band Midnight Oil, has been appointed by the orchestra to lead an independent review into the organisation, supported by professional services firm KPMG Australia.

“The Garrett review will evaluate MSO’s policies, procedures and processes, and cover protocols around freedom of speech and artistic expression on stage,” the orchestra said.

Galaise has been under fire since the MSO dropped acclaimed pianist Jayson Gillham from its line-up over comments he made earlier this month, in introducing a piece dedicated to journalists killed in Gaza. The organisation later cancelled the entire concert and said the decision to remove Gillham was an “error”.

Gillham has since threatened legal action against the orchestra.

Last week, the MSO’s musicians passed a vote of no confidence in senior management and wrote to the board expressing their anger over the decision to drop Gillham, calling for the resignation of Galaise and chief operating officer Guy Ross.

Galaise was approached for comment on Monday.

In a statement, Gillham said he was waiting for the MSO to respond to his lawyers, and that he was “keenly interested in ensuring that the review they have announced is broad enough to get to the bottom of what happened and ensure that no artist will be treated in the same manner in the future”.

In the MSO statement, Garrett said he hoped his review might also guide other arts organisations.

Peter Garrett will lead an independent review into the MSO.Credit: Getty Images

“Performing arts organisations are facing complex issues around freedom of expression whilst maintaining long-term sustainability in a dynamic and increasingly highly charged environment. If we get this right, the review may also serve a broader purpose for others who will inevitably face similar challenges,” Garrett said.

The MSO also acknowledged the tumultuous period following Gillham’s performance.

It said: “The board recognises the past few weeks [have] been a difficult experience for many of our people. There is a clear understanding that we need to learn from these events to ensure the MSO is best positioned to continue offering world-class cultural experiences for our valued audiences.”

The MSO saga is the latest in a string of splits among local arts organisations over the Gaza conflict. Last year, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art had a board member resign after complaints about her social media posts critiquing artists supportive of Palestine.

Law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler withdrew its support for the National Association for the Visual Arts and arts precinct Collingwood Yards over pro-Palestine sentiments. The decision by three actors in the Sydney Theatre Company’s The Seagull to wear keffiyeh scarves to support Palestine also caused a storm at board level, as donors backed away.

Arts advocate Esther Anatolitis said the MSO internal review was a step in the right direction but underscored that it was what happened next that mattered. Anatolitis, a National Gallery of Australia council member, Meanjin editor and a Melbourne deputy mayoral candidate, said reviews should examine an arts organisation’s specific structures and needs.

“The key questions at stake here are not generic to just any corporate workplace environment,” she said. “Arts organisations employ artists … [and] artists challenge us to think differently. Art is about asking questions and challenging us to do the same. Anyone who engages and employs artists works in a political space.

Arts advocate Esther Anatolitis says the review is a step in the right direction.Credit: Sarah Walker

“There is also no such thing as a politically neutral position, and this is something that we’re constantly seeing some organisations butting up against,” she said.

“Every public position that we take expresses our values and either champions constructive ways of being in the world, of engaging with people, or can risk condoning or supporting values and forces that are regressive, objectionable and destructive.”

For the MSO review to be successful, Anatolitis said, it had to consider what systems should be in place rather than what was currently in place. “It’s a different question to, ‘Have we got A, B and C policy?’ It’s what are the most appropriate, constructive and really nation-building policies that an arts organisation of this scale and scope should have.”

Anatolitis said it was vital the MSO heard from the right people: “specialists in arts governance and policy, who’ve got a real depth of experience working with artists.”

Garrett’s appointment was welcomed by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance. “Although we have yet to see the terms of reference, the review is a step forward after the debacle caused by the former managing director’s decision to cancel Jayson Gillham’s performance on August 15 and to ban political expression on the MSO’s stages,” alliance chief executive Erin Madeley said.

“As a former arts minister and a member of one of Australia’s most respected bands who has never shied away from using his music to articulate a political viewpoint, Peter Garrett is highly qualified to conduct this review.

“His review must reaffirm the musical and artistic integrity of the MSO’s musicians, of freedom of expression and of the centrality of the artist.”

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