American composer Philip Glass has taken to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to protest the use of his music in a new production scheduled to open in Russian-occupied Crimea.

“It has come to my attention that a ballet entitled Wuthering Heights featuring my music and using my name in its advertising and promotion is to premiere in public performance at your theater in Sevastopol next week,” Glass wrote.

Philip Glass. Photo supplied

“No permission for the use of my music in the ballet or the use of my name in the advertising and promotion of the ballet was ever requested of me or given by me. The use of my music and the use of my name without my consent is in violation of The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works to which the Russian Federation is a signatory. It is an act of piracy.”

The production is the “all-Russian premiere” of Wuthering Heights, a new ballet created by the British dancer and choreographer Jonah Cook. The work, based on the Emily Brontë novel, also features music by Icelandic composer Hildur Goðnadóttir and Russian composer...