Ukrainian pianist has rallied support on social media after being axed from two performances.

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has found itself in the eye of a twitter-storm today, after dismissing Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa from two performances of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2 later this week. In a statement released by TSO’s President Jeff Melanson, the reason for the axing was “ongoing accusations of deeply offensive language [used by Lisitsa], by Ukrainian media outlets”. Melanson’s claims were in reference to Lisitsa’s outspokenly pro-Putin comments on social media platforms, and with particular regard to Russia’s military involvement in the ongoing conflict in her native Ukraine.

However the decision to remove the soloist from Wednesday and Thursday evening’s concerts was not, apparently, an amicable one. News of the dismissal was broken by Lisitsa herself on Monday evening via a lengthy post on her twitter and facebook pages. The statement also appealed for readers to petition TSO to reinstate her in this week’s performances. “Someone in the orchestra top management, likely after the pressure from a small but aggressive lobby claiming to represent Ukrainian community, has made a decision that I should not be allowed to play,” she wrote. “I don’t even...