Pianist sues Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for cancelling his concert allegedly over Gaza stance
Pianist sues Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for cancelling his concert allegedly over Gaza stance
Jayson Gillham claims he was ‘silenced for speaking the truth’ and says situation ‘strikes at the heart of our right to free speech’
Witness by Connor D'Netto is available for purchase through Bandcamp.
All proceeds from the Bandcamp release will be donated to Palestine Australia Relief and Action (PARA) para.org.au
As noted by @tombruzzo@aussie.zone in the comments Bandcamp Fridays (where Bandcamp waives their revenue share and pass the funds directly to artists & labels) starts at 5pm AEST Friday Oct 4 and goes for 24 hours is on. If someone knows exactly when it ends I can update this post.
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At a concert in the Iwaki Auditorium in Southbank on 11 August, Gillham played a short piece written by Connor D’Netto called Witness, which is dedicated to journalists who have lost their lives in the Gaza conflict.
Introducing the work, the pianist addressed the audience, stating more than 100 Palestinian journalists had been killed, and that the targeting of journalists in a conflict was a war crime under international law.
I cannot tell from this that he made a political statement at all, sounds like he just stated some facts. It doesn't seem like he said the Israel were even targeting journalists (something which could be reasonably made out as a political statement since there is no concrete evidence to suggest either).
It was only political in the sense that Israel/Palestine is a political issue and referencing it at all is often labelled a "political" act. I've read the actual transcript of the speech and it was just stating statistics related to the theme of the piece. I am a little surprised he is suing though, he sounded more bemused than upset at the time and I thought it would be something they'd just put behind them after the backflip and investigation from the MSO.
I am a little surprised he is suing though, he sounded more bemused than upset at the time and I thought it would be something they’d just put behind them after the backflip and investigation from the MSO.
Gillham said at the time that he was "grateful" the incident had "put the plight of Palestinian journalists in the spotlight" (source). So I think it's possible he's using the opportunity of legal action to generate publicity for the issue.
The potential chilling effect that the MSO's actions could have on artists less able to defend themselves also makes it worth pursuing.
So I think it’s possible he’s using the opportunity of legal action to generate publicity for the issue.
Yes I did actually think this as well, interesting way to keep it in the news cycle. This story had pretty much died off until now.
I updated the post to include a link to where folks can listen to and buy Witness by Connor D'Netto.
Today is also Bandcamp Friday so artists get even more of the revenue from sales today
Is this website correct about it starting in 10 hours?
That's the one. It must go off US time. I hope that means things I've bought in the past have gone to the artists
I think it would depend on if you paid in USD or AUD. If they're processing the transactions in aussie dollars, then the backend probably goes off the timezone you're in. And that website probably just does US time.
Updated post again because of ambiguity (also I couldn't find more details online).
I updated the post text. Let me know if you spot any error I made.
Everything looks right there. It should go for 24 hours, but yeah, I wish they gave more details and more notice about it.
And thanks for updating the post, I hope it inclines more people to help out