The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has cancelled performances by Ukrainian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa for her Twitter and Facebook comments on the situation in Ukraine.
Photo Credit: Valentina Lisitsa Facebook

Toronto Symphony Orchestra cancels concerts of Ukrainian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has cancelled concert performances by Ukrainian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa scheduled April 8 and 9 over what it calls her “ongoing accusations of deeply offensive language by Ukrainian media outlets.”

TSO president Jeff Melanson refused interviews, according to the Globe and Mail newspaper, and, the paper reports “issued his note after Ms. Lisitsa revealed the incident on Monday morning in a long, impassioned note linked to her Twitter and Facebook accounts.”

“As one of Canada’s most important cultural institutions, our priority must remain on being a stage for the world’s great works of music, and not for opinions that some believe to be deeply offensive,” said Melanson in the statement.

In the Monday note (April 6) to her fans on Facebook the pianist writes “pressure from a small but aggressive lobby claiming to represent Ukrainian community, has made a decision that I should not be allowed to play,” because of her comments about the situation in Ukraine where “Children die under bombs, old ladies die of starvation, people burned alive…”

Cara Zwibel, director of the fundamental freedoms program for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association told CBC News “It’s hard to see the connection between what she said and what the duties of her job are and how it would affect it,” Zwibel said.

“If the idea is just that the orchestra wants to avoid controversy, I don’t find that a particularly compelling reason. The fact that maybe there would be some people protesting is, again, not a reason to let her go,” she said.

In her Facebook message Lisitsa suggests people look over her tweets on her Twitter account and then “I ask you to raise your voice and tell Toronto Symphony that music can’t be silenced. Ask them to let me play.”

In that same Facebook message posted Monday, she writes: “Yes, Toronto Symphony is going TO PAY ME NOT TO PLAY because I exercised the right to free speech. Yes, they will pay my fee but they are going to announce that I will be unable to play and they already found a substitute.”

More information:
Valentina Lisitsa Facebook letter to fans – here
CBC News – TSO drops Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa over offensive comments – here
Globe and Mail – Controversial Ukrainian-born pianist dropped from TSO concerts – here
Valentina Lisitsa Twitter account – @ValLisitsa
Valentina Lisitsa website – www.valentinalisitsa.com

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