By Kerrie O'Brien
A pianist whose performance was cancelled by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra after he dedicated a new piece of music to journalists killed in Gaza says he was surprised by the response, as such introductions are “normal” practice.
Pianist Jayson Gillham.Credit: Internet
Jayson Gillham had been due to perform with the MSO at a concert in Melbourne on Thursday, but the orchestra confirmed on Tuesday that it had removed him from the program following remarks he made on stage during a performance on Sunday. The orchestra will now perform Beethoven’s Symphony No.8, in place of the scheduled Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.12.
Gillham was giving a recital at MSO’s Iwaki Auditorium on Sunday, where he played a five-minute piece for piano by Australian composer Connor D’Netto called Witness. D’Netto’s website says the piece is “dedicated to the journalists of Gaza”.
Gillham says he had spent some time thinking about how to introduce all the pieces of the concert. “I knew that it was a Sunday morning and that there were going to be young people there as well – for instance my niece and nephew were there – and I wanted to make sure I got the tone right.”
He said he was “surprised at the strength of the reaction” by the MSO to his words. “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.
Gillham shared with this masthead the introduction he gave on Sunday. “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.”
Gillham is a British-Australian pianist whom the MSO describes as “one of the finest pianists of his generation”.
After Sunday’s recital, the MSO sent a letter to attendees saying: “Witness was accepted for performance at the request of Mr Gillham on the basis that it was a short meditative piece. Mr Gillham made his personal remarks without seeking the MSO’s approval or sanction. 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 said Gillham’s remarks were “made completely without authority”.
“The MSO does not condone the use of our stage as a platform for expressing personal views. The MSO understands that his remarks have caused offence and distress and offers a sincere apology,” the letter said. “In standing for humanity and peace we seek for every one of our performances to be a welcome and safe place for all.”
Chief conductor Jaime Martin with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra earlier this year.Credit: Mark Gambino
MSO subscriber Ian Gibb attended the event and said Gillham’s comments were contextual, adding the letter he subsequently received from the MSO seemed like overreach. “I was really sad, shocked actually, that they would prevent him from performing,” he said.
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