Melbourne Orchestra Cancels Jayson Gillham Performance After Pianist Dedicates Piece to ‘Journalists of Gaza’
variety.comPatrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has canceled a Thursday performance by classical pianist Jayson Gillham following his comments during a concert on Sunday about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Gillham was scheduled to play a show with the MSO on Thursday at Melbourne Town Hall. But the MSO sent an email to attendees of Sunday’s performance saying that Gillham would no longer be part of the performance and that “customers will be advised of this change to Thursday’s program as soon as possible.” It is also understood that Gillham’s name has been removed from the event details on the MSO website.
On Sunday at the city’s Iwaki Auditorium, Gillham performed “Witness,” a five-minute piece written by Connor D’Netto which the composer said was “dedicated to the journalists of Gaza.” Before playing, Gillham added his own explanation. “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 traveling in marked press vehicles or wearing their press jackets,” Gillham said. “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.
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