The Australian Music Students’ Association is intensely disappointed and strongly condemns the decision by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to cancel performances by pianist Jayson Gillham because of his performance of a piece dedicated to the murdered journalists in Gaza. We stand in solidarity with Gillham, and praise his choice to use his art and platform to stand for good.
The piece in question, titled Witness and composed by Connor D’Netto, is a 5-minute long meditative piece to provide audience members the opportunity to reflect on those who lost their lives to allow us bear witness to the horrors in Gaza. It was a late addition to the programme, approved by the Orchestra, and was premiered at the Iwaki Auditorium in Southbank with a short introduction to its context, as happened with the other works performed.
The recital also saw a performance of György Ligeti’s first book of Études. As Hungarian Jews, Ligeti was sent to a forced labour brigade, his brother sent to the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, and his parents sent to Auschwitz; his mother was the only survivor of the Holocaust among his immediate family.
In their email to the audience after the Recital, they said that Gillham’s performance of D’Netto’s piece was “an intrusion of personal political views”. Despite knowing the contents of the piece before approval, puts Gillham as their scapegoat, when wealthy donors in support of Israel threaten to withhold funding.
Support for Gaza and opposition to a genocide are not personal political views; opposing a genocide is not a political matter. They are the crux to the work, and it would be an inaccurate performance not to mention them; any attempt to politically sanitise the work would render it useless. Just two days before, on 10 August, the Israeli military massacred 100 Palestinians during morning prayers at Al-Tabi’in school in Gaza — this massacre is only known because of the journalists reporting to it.
Their Mission Statement declares that they aim, “through the shared language of music, [to] create meaningful cultural experiences for our audiences.” If the Orchestra is not willing to use their art to stand against a genocide, helping others understand the impact upon culture and humanity in Gaza, what are the values they will stand for?
As we have said countless times before, art is a privilege to create, to tell people’s stories, and is supposed to be a way for people to understand the humanity of others. The Orchestra hasn’t been afraid to show the strengths of art, and have tackled difficult and confronting topics in previous performances.
12 years ago as part of their secret symphonies, they performed Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartour pour la fin du temps” (Quartet for the End of Times), a piece written and premiered whilst he was held captive in the Nazi prisoner-of-war camp Stalag VIII-A. Whilst Messiaen was fortunate to be released from the camp, so many others were exterminated by the Nazis in the Holocaust because of who they were; that piece, as well as Ligeti’s discography, cannot be performed without that reminder of those horrors.
The Orchestra also is striving for its work to take part in reconciliation of colonisation, a violent action stealing Country from Australia’s first peoples. The beginning of every concert opens with a musical Acknowledgement of Country, composed by their First Nations Creative Chair Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO. They are proud to partner with Short Black Opera, Australia’s only indigenous opera company. But these actions now seem empty gestures, as an organisation cannot claim to support indigenous peoples, whilst capitulating to those carrying out a genocide against another.
Unfortunately, they have seemingly now lost these values and have gone down a similar route to other arts companies, such as the Sydney Theatre Company, of capitulating to wealthy donors who threaten to withhold funding if anything criticising the Israeli Government is seen at their concerts. Even though Witness is merely dedicated to murdered journalists in Gaza, this mention of war crimes by Israel has meant the Orchestra has scrambled to find an acceptable response and apology to the minority who find themselves implicitly or explicitly supportive of a genocide.
We call for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s management to reverse their decision of cancelling Jayson Gillham’s performances. We urge them to look to their past and their values, understand the privilege of artistic creation, and take a stand alongside so many others to condemn genocide and not punish those who do.
We encourage all musicians in Australia — students, professionals, and amateurs — to sign onto our statement in support of Gillham, and join our call to the Orchestra.
You can sign onto the statement here:
Alexander Poirier
President (president@usydcsa.org)
Australian Music Students' Association; and
Sydney Conservatorium Students' Association
Signatories to the Statement
Further signatories will be added as they are submitted. (updated 22:27, 20/08/2020)
Ngaire Bogemann - President, National Union of Students - student, University of Melbourne
Grace Street - Education Officer, University of Sydney Students' Representative Council - student, University of Sydney Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Jessica Smith - Environment Officer, Sydney Conservatorium Students' Association - student, Sydney Conservatorium - singer, actress, writer, and director
Sierra Sharman - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2023 - music teacher and performer
Anne Berry - alum University of South Queensland 1994 & University of Queensland 2007 - music teacher
Daisy Wong - student, Sydney Conservatorium
Lisa Polsek - chorister, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Miranda Ilchef - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2022 - violinist
Ashly Zhang - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2024 - collaborative pianist undertaking postgraduate studies
Aiden Bowie - student, Sydney Conservatorium - performer and composer
Lisa Gronich - chorister
Leila Harris - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2023 - songwriter, composer, performer, producer, soprano, instrumentalist
Marilyn Wilson - alum, NSWCon 1997 - teacher
Jillian Albrecht - audience member and volunteer music festival organiser
Ishbel Dunsmore - Student Accomodation Officer, University of Sydney Students' Representative Council
Stephanie Mormanis - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2001 - piano teacher, choral conductor, music educator
Amy Tashjian - student, Queensland Conservatorium - flautist
Sonia Freiburg - student, University of Melbourne
Feyise Writer - student, Sydney Conservatorium
Edward Plowman - student, Victorian College of the Arts - saxophonist
Max McIlwraith - Student Life Representative, Sydney Conservatorium Students' Association - student, Sydney Conservatorium - freelance classical double bassist
Joanne Arnott - alum, Sydney Conservatorium (Honours) 2010 (Masters) 2014 - professional recorder player
Antonio Aguillar - student, Sydney Conservatorium - cellist
Chloe Charody - alum, Sydney Conservatorium - professional classical composer
Julia Lim - student, University of Sydney Law School and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences - violinist, Sydney Concert Orchestra; Honorary-Secretary, University of Sydney Union
Hugo Naea Ceran Jerusalemy - Pasifika Officer, Sydney Conservatorium Students' Association - student, Sydney Conservatorium - composer
Tania Ma - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2018 - violinist/teacher
Menila Moineaux - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2017 - opera director
Luke Manning - student, Australian National University - amateur musician
Daniela Edwards - student, Sydney Conservatorium
Jasmine-Jade Mills - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2019 - saxophonist, conductor,
Crispin Rice - attendee at all major Sydney classical music company performances
Tobias Dunan - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2023 - educator
Dave Bryant - alum, NSW State Conservatorium 1984 - music educator
Angel Tan - student, Sydney Conservatorium - contemporary violinist
Sian Hardy - student, Australian National University School of Art and Design - member, ANU SOAD Collective
Benedict Harris - alum, Sydney Conservatorium - composer and sound designer
Linda Chegwidden - amateur pianist for leisure, music educator
Louise Welsh - alum, Newcastle Conservatorium - music teacher, accompanist
Kit Garman - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2014 - orchestral management
Tiana Young - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2020
Gabriel McMahon - student, Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts - ethnomusicologist and freelance classical musician - Western Australian Charity Orchestra, Western Australian Flute Society, Chung Wah Chinese Orchestra
Damian Nguyen - amateur violinist for leisure
Kayla Morgan - student, University of Melbourne - teacher, performer, researcher
Rafal Hassan - writer on subjects relating to independent and community radio
Oli Burgmann - student, Sydney Conservatorium - Freelance composer of screen music and jazz orchestration, performer on piano and vocals
Anne Bawden - Victoria
Anna Ryan - fan of music
Geoffrey Seidel - audience member
Judy Pile - alum, University of Adelaide and La Trobe University - freelance composer, singer, teacher
Kaelin Abrahams - alum, University of Western Australia - audience member - Membership Officer of the CFMEU; West Perth Labor Branch President
Samantha O'Toole - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2022 - flautist
Elif Sezen - amateur violinist, violin student
Ethan Floyd - Board Director, University of Sydney Union
Marc Baptista - audio shaper of music for documentary films
Jesse Kircher
Graeme Jennings - alum, Queensland Conservatorium 1989 - performer, educator
Melanie Walters - alum, Elder Conservatorium 2011 & 2017 - freelance performer, reviewer, and music tutor
Wayne Jennings - alum, University of Queensland Music School - freelance cellist
Margaret (Mimi) Barnett-Hodges I am a keen music theatre performer, music lover, and the daughter of ex-opera singer, Helen Barnett. I have been surrounded by music my entire life and am passionate about its role in self expression, identity, society and politics. The ongoing crisis that is taking place in Palestine should not be addressed as “personal political views”, for this sugar coats the reality of the genocide and destruction that is taken place. To support such an outrageous decision to condemn Jayson Gillham by claiming that they do not condone the use of [their] stage as “a platform for expressing personal views” is vicariously condemning the conceptual significance of music and performance.
Hayley Chan - student, Sydney Conservatorium - drummer
Ami Humphreys - classical music student, Sydney Conservatorium
David Weiss
Thomas Suárez - violinist & composer in London
Khoi Bui - alum, Melbourne Conservatorium - professional pianist
M SG - founder, Solidarity Külture Ćlub - drummer/producer, Anna & The Morphics
Joseph Franklin - alum, University of Pennsylvania (PhD) - composer, performer
Pascalle Burton - musician
Timothy Walsh - student, Sydney Conservatorium - classical vocalist
Erik Petersen - community musician
Lynne Dunbar
Sujin Kang - student, Sydney Conservatorium - freelance games composer
Rachel Down - alum, Sydney Conservatorium 2023
Julia Hill - Queensland Conservatorium 2023 - violinist
Tine Boonstra - amateur saxophonist
Kenneth Poggioli - double bassist, Queensland Symphony Orchestra - alum, Queensland Conservatorium
Chelsea Fu - Wellbeing Director, Sydney Conservatorium Students' Association - student, Sydney Conservatorium - clarinettist of classical and new music, instrumental tutor
John Chernoff - pianist
Haris Hajdarpasic - student Sydney Conservatorium
Ruth O'Dea
Leonie Waterson - audience member
Imogen Tonkin - member of a professional chamber choir
Saskia Howard - arts manager
Leonie Bot - violinist
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