By Elizabeth Flux and Kerrie O'Brien
The musician who found himself at the centre of a censorship firestorm after his performance was cancelled by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has said his remarks about the killing of journalists in Gaza were “neither political nor a personal opinion, but simply a statement of fact”.
Pianist Jayson Gillham. Credit: Simon Schluter
The MSO this week removed highly acclaimed pianist Jayson Gillham from a performance on Thursday night following comments he made at a recital on Sunday, in introducing a piece, Witness, that was “dedicated to the journalists of Gaza”.
The orchestra then cancelled the entire Thursday night performance, amid a backlash over its decision, citing “safety concerns”.
The MSO also said “an error was made in asking Jayson to step back from his performance on Thursday 15 August” and that it was now working with Gillham and his management to reschedule the concert.
Speaking exclusively to this masthead Gillham said he was “overwhelmed with gratitude for the outpouring of support in the past few days”.
“What I said was neither political nor a personal opinion but simply a statement of fact,” Gillham said.
The 38-year-old also said the experience had “been a lot”, but he had questions for the MSO about who complained about his comments and on what basis.
“I feel like I should know who they are,” Gillham said. “What I said was neither political nor a personal opinion but simply a statement of fact.”
Gillham also said that his management had been contacted by people all over the world about the decision to cancel his performance.
On Sunday, Gillham was giving a recital at MSO’s Iwaki Auditorium where he played Witness, a five-minute piece for piano by Australian composer Connor D’Netto. D’Netto’s website says the piece is “dedicated to the journalists of Gaza”.
The pianist told this masthead he introduced the piece by saying: “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 travelling in marked press vehicles or wearing their press jackets.
“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 shahid, which derives from the same root word as shaheed, meaning martyr.”
After Sunday’s recital, the MSO sent a letter to attendees saying Witness was accepted for performance at the request of Gillham but that he made his personal remarks without seeking the MSO’s approval. “They were an intrusion of personal political views on what should have been a morning focused on a program of works for solo piano,” the MSO’s letter said. The orchestra then announced it was cancelling his performance.
Josh Bornstein, head of employment law at Maurice Blackburn, said the anti-discrimination law in a number of states, including Victoria, prohibits employees being sacked or otherwise disadvantaged for expressing political opinions.
“This is also part of a wave of censorship that has unfolded across the country of views that are critical of the Israeli war on Gaza and more supportive of Palestinian human rights,” he says. “There’s been an extraordinary wave of censorship that’s been unleashed in the last six months across various industries and sectors. We saw this at the State Library, we’ve seen it at universities, we saw it at the Sydney Theatre Company.”
The MSO’s statement on Thursday, acknowledging it made a mistake in cancelling Gillham’s performance, went on to say: “While the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra maintains that a concert platform is not an appropriate stage for political comment, we acknowledge Jayson’s concerns for those in the Middle East and elsewhere.
“We recognise the strength of feelings of all parties on this matter and particularly acknowledge the dedication and commitment demonstrated by all our musicians and staff this week.”
Gillham said he had been surprised by the strength of the MSO’s initial reaction and had thought carefully about how to introduce the piece. “I wasn’t made aware of anything that I wasn’t allowed to say or do, and it was normal to introduce the works,” he said.
The Australian Music Students’ Association (AMUSA) and the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance union (MEAA) issued statements in support of Gillham and his right to freedom of speech.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra declined multiple requests for an interview and did not respond to provided questions by deadline.
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