The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has cancelled an upcoming performance of Australian-British classical pianist Jayson Gillham after he made comments about the killing of Palestinian journalists in Gaza during a recital.
The 37-year-old Queensland-born pianist performed on Sunday at Melbourne's Iwaki Auditorium in a concert presented by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO).
Mr Gillham was scheduled to play pieces by Beethoven, Chopin and others, alongside the world premiere of a 2024 piece by Australian composer Connor D'Netto called Witness.
The five-minute piano solo is dedicated "to the journalists of Gaza," according to D'Netto.
He told the ABC the "bravery and sacrifice [of Gaza's journalists] had been on my mind a lot at the time of writing it".
According to his management, when introducing the piece, Mr Gillham said:
Over the last 10 months, Israel has killed more than one hundred 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 Shaheed, which also means Martyr.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent organisation that promotes press freedom, reports that 113 journalists have been killed since the recent war in Gaza began.
The Israel Defense Forces has told media outlets the army does not deliberately target journalists but cannot guarantee the safety of journalists in Gaza.
MSO apologises for Gillham's remarks
In an email to ticketholders of Sunday's performance, shared with ABC, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra said the introductory remarks Mr Gillham made before performing Witness created a "difficult situation" for the MSO.
"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 email said.
"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 email described the D'Netto piece as "a late addition to the advertised program," accepted for performance at Mr Gillham's request.
It said Mr Gillham's remarks were made "completely without authority."
"The MSO was not made aware of the content of the remarks Mr Gillham was intending to make," a MSO spokesperson told the ABC.
When asked what the MSO's policy was on performers making political comments during performances, a spokesperson said all artists have contract terms "in line with industry practice."
"Mr Gillham's remarks went beyond the remit of his contract," the spokesperson said.
The MSO made no further comments when asked about the nature of Mr Gillham's remarks.
Mr Gillham was scheduled to play a concert with the MSO on Thursday August 15, at Melbourne Town Hall, but attendees of Sunday's performance were told he would no longer be performing.
"Customers will be advised of this change to Thursday's program as soon as possible," the email said.
Mr Gillham's name has since been removed from the event details on the MSO website.
A spokesperson for Mr Gillham said he would not comment further on the decision to cancel his upcoming performance "out of respect to the the MSO and his ongoing relationship with them."
Performer received big applause, audience member says
Peter Cotterell, who told the ABC he was an audience member at Sunday's recital, said he did not find the comments Mr Gillham had made about Witness offensive and the piece received a "big applause".
The 79-year-old said Mr Gillham had made introductory remarks to most of the pieces he played.
"It was simply, what the music was all about and why it was written and a little bit about the composer," he said.
"You can take it any way you like, but it's certainly not anti-Semitic and it's certainly not distressing."
He described the piece as "incredibly beautiful" and "very sweet, very sad", with loud chords that appeared to surprise some audience members.
"The music said more than what Jayson said," Mr Cotterell said.
Mr Cotterell has since written to the MSO to express disappointment over the cancellation of Mr Gillham's subsequent performance.
"It's censorship," he said.
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), the union which represents musicians, said it was "disturbed" by the MSO's decision to sanction Mr Gillham over the comments.
It said the musicians of the MSO were not consulted on the decision.
"Musical and artistic expression have long been a vehicle for political commentary and a lens through which we examine the world, and MEAA is concerned that freedom of expression is being compromised across the creative workforce," a MEAA spokesperson said.
"MEAA members stand in solidarity with Jayson Gillham and with journalists working in Palestine."
