The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has removed Australian-British pianist Jayson Gillham from an upcoming performance for “introductory remarks” he made regarding the Israel-Hamas war during a solo recital last weekend.

At a recital performance on 11 August at Iwaki Auditorium, Gillham gave the world premiere performance of Connor D’Netto’s Witness as an unannounced addition to the program that the MSO confirmed it had granted permission for. Written for Gillham, Witness is dedicated to the journalists killed in the ongoing Gaza conflict.

In his introduction, 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.”

In response, the MSO quickly removed Gillham from its Mozart and Brahms program on 15 August at Melbourne Town Hall, during which Gillham was to perform...