Sophie Galaise, the former managing director at the centre of the censorship row that has engulfed the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, said freedom of expression was a core value of music in an email to supporters of the organisation in December, promising the MSO would “continue to use our voice and our art to stand up for dignity and safety in the face of oppression”.
Those comments stand in contrast with Galaise’s decision to cancel a performance by pianist Jayson Gillham last month after he dedicated a piece to Palestinian journalists killed in the conflict in Gaza, and accused the Israeli government of targeted assassinations.
Former MSO managing director Sophie Galaise.Credit: Laura Manariti
“Music at its very core stands for humanity, peace, freedom of expression, and for coming together above personal difference,” Galaise wrote in an email sent to the MSO’s mailing list on December 18.
“We share our artistry and use the power of music to support peace and understanding. It is our hope that, as it always has, music can bring us together, and we look forward to celebrating our humanity through music with a dedicated concert in the first part of 2024.
“At this special event, the MSO and its audience will call for the release of all Israeli hostages, and for the protection of the Palestinian and Israeli civilian population.”
Galaise referenced the email, though not its content, in a lengthy interview published in The Australian on Tuesday, arguing that it reflected a decision by the company to remain neutral on the issue of the conflict in Gaza.
“We had worked with the board, the management, our musicians and our people to decide what we would be doing in regards to the geopolitical situation in Gaza, and that was published last December,” she told The Australian.
“And we decided … we would not take sides in the conflict … we would try to remain a safe haven for people who want to hear good music and not be subjected to different personal opinions.”
Galaise revealed the discussions in support of her contention that she had been unfairly sacked by the MSO board in the wake of the scandal.
“Why was I sacked? In my opinion it’s not fair. It was a disagreement [with the board] but it [my position] was not a mistake.”
Galaise claimed she was sacked after the MSO board overturned her, and her executive management team’s, decision to remove pianist Gillham from the orchestra’s line-up after he dedicated a piece of music to journalists killed in Gaza while performing at a recital on August 11.
On August 16, musicians of the MSO orchestra wrote to the board with a vote of no confidence in management, calling for Galaise and chief operating officer Guy Ross to resign, and for an independent review of what happened with Gillham.
Ross remains with the organisation, and a review headed by former federal minister and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett has been instituted. Gillham, meanwhile, is pursuing legal action against the MSO.
Meanwhile, an attendee at Gillham’s recital on August 11, who asked to remain anonymous, wrote to this masthead saying he was one of those who complained after the event.
In response to the pianist saying “it is not only my right but my responsibility to use my platform to shed light on important issues”, the attendee said “my wife and I do not deny him his rights, but we seriously challenge his ignoring our rights in using this avenue to interrupt, midway in his performance, to read, unannounced, another person’s script of a highly sensitive overseas topic to a captive, fee-paying audience who attend on a Sunday morning to hear classical music. This was not a political event.”
The attendee said he and “others did complain to management about the appropriateness of his actions at that Sunday morning performance, and did appreciate the MSO notifying us that they had no prior knowledge” of Gillham’s intended dedication.