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    Default When Money Plays Harp... errr...

    When reading the following article, keep in mind the kind of people which constitutes the vast majority of subscribers for that entertainment avenue...

    The Toronto Symphony Orchestra Silences Valentina Lisitsa’s Music

    Posted by Olga Luzanova ⋅ April 6, 2015


    It is no secret that nowadays many alternative media activists face appalling state-sponsored censorship in many nominally free and democratic Western countries. Now it seems that such censorship has penetrated much deeper than we have come to expect. Art itself, the truest form of free expression, is being silenced.

    Valentina Lisitsa
    is a brilliant musician, a famous virtuoso pianist, also known for publicly expressing her opinion on the Ukrainian conflict through her Twitter account. She is a good friend of the Slavyangrad Team andhas kindly translated a number of articles for our publication. Her views are always insightful and she has never made them a secret. We are lucky to have Valentina’s first-hand account about dealings with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (“TSO”), which has decided to cancel her concert because of her political opinions. The TSO’s decision to silence Valentina’s music because she has exercised her inviolable right to express her beliefs is a message to all artists that the next time it could be them.

    Valentina is Ukrainian. She was born on March 25, 1970, in Kiev. Her family comes from Odessa—her mother is a Russian citizen, and her father was Ukrainian. Valentina graduated from the Lysenko music school and the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine (the Kiev Conservatory). She married Alexey Kuznetsov from Taganrog. In 1991, they represented Ukraine in the Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition in Miami, Florida, and won the first prize. In 1992 they moved to the USA to study and subsequently decided to remain there. In 2001 they became American citizens. Since last year, Valentina has been living in Paris.

    Valentina is one of the most frequently viewed pianists on YouTube, with over 177,000 subscribers, and she performs all over the world. Now Valentina’s concert in Toronto, which was scheduled for April 8 and 9 at the Roy Thomson Hall, has been cancelled for an outrageous reason—her political views. In an email sent to Valentina’s agent, the TSO stated: “the Toronto Symphony Orchestra received some messages from ticket buyers and others expressing concern over pianist Valentina Lisitsa’s public political statements.”

    In its correspondence, the TSO also accused Valentina of nothing less than public incitement of hatredcontrary to section 319(2) of the Criminal Code of Canada and went as far as to insinuate that Valentina, a citizen of the United States, could be barred from entering Canada by the immigration authorities. The TSO attempted to base its charges on Lisitsa’s public social media posts, attaching a copy of some of her tweets, along with a brief and exceedingly shallow legal opinion by the TSO’s counsel at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.

    Despite being provided with a substantive legal response on the merits of these allegations, the TSO has since mustered neither a single sentence in support of its accusations, nor a single word of apology. It was only after the legal opinion supplied by Valentina underscored that the TSO could not unilaterally dissolve the contract that the TSO’s counsel clarified that all her fees would be paid. To all appearances, the TSO seemed to believe that it could not only silence Valentina’s music, but also renege on its contractual obligations and thus walk away from their commitments.

    With the TSO finally making a decision to cancel Valentina’s concert at the Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Valentina has appealed to her fans and friends on her public Facebook page, today, on April 6. With full support for Valentina’s courage and strength, we have excerpted the full text of her appeal below. Valentina Lisitsa has never been one to hide her political views. It is time for the TSO to acknowledge that they can no longer hide their own biases and to stop kowtowing to ferociously reactionary political lobbies.


    Dear fans, DEAR FRIENDS!

    I have a confession to make and a huge favor to ask all of you. I really REALLY need your help now.

    But first, my confession.

    Over the last year I have been leading a double life. There was me—a “celebrity” pianist hopping from concert to concert, all over the world; learning new pieces, meeting fans, recording, chirping about my happiness in upbeat interviews.

    But there was another me: not a musician but a regular human being—a daughter, a mother, a wife. And this human being was watching helplessly how the country of my birth, of my childhood, of my first falling in love—this country was sliding ever faster into the abyss. Children die under bombs, old ladies die of starvation, people burned alive…

    The worst thing that can happen to any country is fratricidal war, people seeing each other, their neighbours as enemies to be eliminated. This is what has befallen my beautiful Ukraine. My heart was bleeding. You all saw on TV screens all over the world a magnificent revolution, the people of Ukraine raising in fury against their corrupt rulers, for a better life. I was so proud of my people! But the ruling class doesn’t let go easily. They managed to cunningly channel away the anger, to direct it to other, often imaginary, enemies—and worse, to turn people upon themselves. A year later, we have the same rich people remaining in power, misery and poverty everywhere, dozens of thousands killed, over a million of refugees.

    So, I took to Twitter (how many of you know I have a Twitter account?) under a name “NedoUkraïnka”—a word roughly meaning “Sub-Ukrainian”, a stab at Ukrainian Prime Minister who called Russian-speaking southern and eastern Ukrainians “SUBHUMANS”! Yes, I kid you not. In an official written document. I am a subhuman, my husband, my mum…. I mastered Ukrainian language perfectly, far better than a so-called “president” of Ukraine. But I don’t speak it to my family, I didn’t sing lullabies to my son in Ukrainian, when I sleep I never see the dreams in Ukrainian, when I will be dying my last words will NOT be in Ukrainian…

    Sorry, I got carried away telling you those things… To get back to my story—I took to Twitter in order to get the other side of the story heard, the one you never see in the mainstream media—the plight of my people, the good and bad things that were happening in Ukraine. I translated news stories from Ukrainian language websites, I translated eyewitness accounts of atrocities…. I became really good in unmasking fakes published by Western media in order to make one side of the civil war look whiter and softer than the Easter bunny, and the other—like sub-humans, not worthy of mercy, the “collateral damage”.

    To give you just one example: one of my feats was to confront French fashion magazine “Elle” who published a glowing cover story about women in Ukrainian army. After the research I have shown to the magazine in my Twitter posts that the “cover girl” they have chosen to show was in fact a horrible person, open Neo-Nazi, racist, anti-Semite who boasted of murdering civilians for fun! The magazine issued a written public apology.

    I was very proud! But with time my activities attracted a lot of vicious haters. I was a particularly important “target” because of being Ukrainian, thus—a traitor. I thought I knew hate—my playing on YouTube certainly “attracted” a fair share of hate mail. But I was mistaken. Death threats, wishes for my family to die, calling me “paid Kremlin wh*re”… the list goes on and on.

    My haters didn’t stop there. Trying, in their own words, to teach me a lesson, they have now attempted to silence me as a musician.

    I am scheduled to play Rachmaninoff Concerto #2 with Toronto Symphony Orchestra this week. Back in December someone in the orchestra top management, likely after pressure from a small but aggressive lobby claiming to represent the Ukrainian community, has made a decision that I should not be allowed to play. I don’t even know who my accusers are, I am kept in the dark about it. I was accused of “inciting hatred” on Twitter. As the “proof”, ironically enough, they presented to the orchestra my tweets containing, of all things, Charlie Hebdo caricatures depicting lying media!!! We all know what those who can’t tolerate free speech did to Charlie Hebdo journalists.

    Now, the orchestra based in one of the freest democratic countries is bending over to the same kind of people, helping them to assassinate me—not as a living person yet , but as a MUSICIAN for sure.

    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. And they even threatened me against saying anything about the cause of the cancellation. Seriously. And I thought things like this only happen in Turkey to Fazil Say?

    Now, the plea.
    Before you decide to help me—If you wish, please take time and read my tweets. You might find some of them offensive—perhaps. Satire and hyperbole are the best literature tools to combat lies. Bear that in mind when reading.

    Here is what I ask you to do for me and in defense of freedom, even if you disagree with me on politics.

    I ask you to raise your voice and tell Toronto Symphony that music can’t be silenced. Ask them to let me play. If you want to write something—great! Or just share a photo I made ( sorry, I made it on my phone, nothing fancy). Ask your friends to join in.

    If they do it once, they will do it again and again, until the musicians, artists are intimidated into voluntary censorship. Our future will be bleak if we allow this to happen.

    Please stand with me.

    Here are the links :

    https://www.facebook.com/torontosymphonyorchestra Twitter @TorontoSymphony
    © Valentina Lisitsa.


    Valentina Lisitsa protest poster

    Last edited by Hervé; 7th April 2015 at 13:25.
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    Default Re: When Money Plays Harp... errr...

    I guess firing her without an explanation would have been too suspicious. While I am on her side, at least she was (unfair as it may be) offered money for staying away.

    I've known other artists in Toronto who worked for companies with less money and less clout than the TSO and when they (the artists) became political, they were told to "shut up or leave".

    Some of these artists were fired with no compensation. Additionally, they were demonized and ostracized. Some of them went on to teach in the more liberal universities like "York" and "Ryerson", provided they had an MA. Others, who had only a BA could not even do that. For a sensitive artist whose skin is a little less thin than iron, being demonized and ostracized can have devastating consequences.

    I guess there is good and bad in social media. While it can expose a person, leading them to irreparable shame and damage, it can also save one when pleading for help is done correctly.

    I'm glad she came out with her story. Someone else might have decided to handle it differently. We need more people who come out with their truth.

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    Default Re: When Money Plays Harp... errr...


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    Default Re: When Money Plays Harp... errr...

    The people of Toronto are losing big time here, she is very talented and she puts a lot of passion in her playing.

    Freedom of speech is not allowed anymore.:zip lips:
    Last edited by seko; 25th June 2015 at 20:56.
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    Default Re: When Money Plays Harp... errr...

    Valentina Lisitsa in Donetsk - A Story of Courage Through Art

    A uplifting concert from a heroic pianist banned from performing in Toronto for her opposition to the war being waged in her country

    Alexander Mercouris Tue, Jun 23




    Valentina Lisitsa - Hero Pianist

    Amidst all the horror of the Ukrainian conflict, 22nd June 2015 produced a moment of true heroism.

    The pianist Valentina Lisitsa — prevented from performing in Toronto because of her opposition to the war being waged in her native Ukraine — performed a concert in Donetsk.

    This was a true anti-war concert – commemorating those who fought fascism on the anniversary of the Nazi attack on the USSR (Operation Barbarossa).

    It was also an act of solidarity with those in the Donbass who have suffered from the war imposed on them.


    It was also an act of astonishing courage – throwing down the gauntlet of defiance at the angry packs of the war’s Western supporters.

    It is as though through her art Lisitsa was saying (as Luther probably didn’t): “Here I stand - I can do no other.”

    That was the indomitable courage that saved the world from fascism and war 70 years ago.

    It is ennobling to see the same spirit again amongst us now.

    Details of the concert can be found here.

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    Default Re: When Money Plays Harp... errr...

    This is really incredible. What have we become to submit to such censure? Shame to the orchestra chief and the orchestra agents to submit like this to Harper government.

    This was happening Under Hitler against the Jews for gosh sake. Suppressing the Jewish artist, right before the WWII. Are we back to that level of censorship and what is next - killing everybody who are against anything in which the government heads disapprove???

    This is not the country I was born in.

    Quote Posted by Sophocles (here)
    Valentina Lisitsa interviewed by Russia Today:



    From the RT-article: ‘I was to play Rachmaninoff, not preach politics’ – fired pianist Valentina Lisitsa to RT
    Last edited by Flash; 26th June 2015 at 00:13.
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    Default Re: When Money Plays Harp... errr...

    Quote Posted by Flash (here)
    This is really incredible. What have we become to submit to such censure? Shame to the orchestra chief and the orchestra agents to submit like this to Harper government.

    This was happening Under Hitler against the Jews for gosh sake. Are we back to that level of censorship and what is next - killing everybody who are against anything in which the government heads disapprove???

    This is not the country I was born in.

    Quote Posted by Sophocles (here)
    Valentina Lisitsa interviewed by Russia Today:



    From the RT-article: ‘I was to play Rachmaninoff, not preach politics’ – fired pianist Valentina Lisitsa to RT
    I find it shocking that people still think harper isn't working for an evil elite cabal. From my perspective, and I don't follow Harper that closely, it is blatantly obvious, he isn't working for Canada or Canadians, but rather working to further enslave us ... He is the Canadian Hitler in every way.
    When you are one step ahead of the crowd, you are a genius.
    Two steps ahead, and you are deemed a crackpot.

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    Default Re: When Money Plays Harp... errr...

    SOTT Exclusive: Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa condemns Kiev's atrocities, silenced by Dutch airline KLM

    Amari Roos, Sott.net
    Mon, 31 Aug 2015 07:30 UTC



    Valentina Lisitsa © Wikimedia Commons/Michael von Aichberger


    In April this year the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) cancelled a concert by Ukrainian-American classical pianist Valentina Lisitsa at the Roy Thomson Hall because she spoke out against Kiev's 'anti-terror operations' in eastern Ukraine. The TSO told Valentina's agent: "the Toronto Symphony Orchestra received some messages from ticket buyers and others expressing concern over pianist Valentina Lisitsa's public political statements." The TSO quickly found a substitute and paid Lisitsa's fees.

    Needless to say, her 'political views', which according to the TSO are "public incitement of hatred", are in fact valid concerns about military actions against civilian targets, actions that have been strongly supported by the US and Canadian governments since the West's installment of the current regime, which includes radicals with links to nazism, and the thousands of innocent lives lost as a result. In a plea on Facebook, posted on April 6th, Lisitsa wrote:
    Quote ...I took to Twitter in order to get the other side of the story heard, the one you never see in the mainstream media - the plight of my people, the good and bad things that were happening in Ukraine. I translated news stories from Ukrainian language websites, I translated eyewitness accounts of atrocities.... I became really good in unmasking fakes published by Western media in order to make one side of the civil war look whiter and softer than Easter bunny, and another - as sub-humans, not worthy of mercy, the "collateral damage".

    To give you just one example: one of my feats was to confront French fashion magazine Elle, who published a glowing cover story about women in Ukrainian army. After the research I have shown to the magazine in my Twitter posts that the "cover girl" they have chosen to show was in fact a horrible person, open Neo-Nazi, racist, anti-Semite who boasted of murdering civilians for fun! The magazine issued a written public apology.

    I was very proud! But with time my activities attracted a lot of vicious haters. I was a particularly important "target" because of being Ukrainian, thus - a traitor. I thought I knew hate - my playing on YouTube certainly "attracted" a fair share of hate mail. But I was mistaken. Death threats, wishes for my family to die, calling me "paid Kremlin wh*re"...the list goes on and on. My haters didn't stop there. Trying, in their own words, to teach me a lesson, they have now attempted to silence me as a musician. ...
    In this world, 'freedom of speech' is granted only to those who say the 'right' things. Oftentimes, those who speak the truth are attacked, in one way or another, or have their words twisted in order to show them in a bad light. Now Lisitsa is under fire again because Dutch airline KLM is removing her music from its in-flight entertainment program.

    The decision was made after Inna Thorn, a Ukrainian woman who resides in Canada, and member of an openly anti-Russian and anti-Putin group called "Russian-speaking Ukrainian Nationalists", wrote the following complaint in an e-mail to KLM on August 23rd:
    Quote I traveled this August with KLM‬ from Canada to Netherlands and then to Ukraine and was appalled to see Valentina Lisitsa‬ being featured in your in-flight entertainment.

    This year Ms. Lisitsa contract and concerts were cancelled by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra because of her heinous tweets where she calls Ukrainians "dog ****", "pigs", "nazi" and celebrates terrorists responsible for taking down MH17‬ and killing close to 300 people on board including nearly 200 Dutch citizens*.

    I am certain the Dutch airline company KLM will reconsider their decision about including a xenophobic performer in their entertainment programming after being informed about Ms. Lisitsa's other performance. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
    KLM replied:
    Quote Dear Inna en Dmitry. First of all, please accept our apologies for the delay in the reply. We do appreciate passengers who reach out to us and point out something as sensitive and fragile as this matter. Our organization still mourns for the loss of the countless innocent lives lost on the MH17 flight. We regret that we were not able to catch this before, but have taken immediate action. The artist will be removed from the playlist in our Inflight Entertainment as soon as possible. Thank you once again for being observant and notifying us about this immediately.
    In addition, a spokesperson for the airline told national Dutch newspaper, de Volkskrant: "We were informed through social media that Lisitsa has expressed sympathy for the attack on MH17. That is horrible. We are now removing her music from all flights."

    Note how KLM decides to 'take immediate action' without verifying Thorn's spurious accusations, even though it claims to have investigated Lisitsa's alleged statements. In response to this, Lisitsa told RT: "My first reaction was outrage. They didn't contact me or my recording company [and ask for a] second opinion."

    Furthermore, she took to Twitter and has asked editors of de Volkskrant to present evidence for the claim that she "showed sympathy for the MH17 attack." Its editors have yet to respond.

    The day after the MH17 crash on July 17th 2014, Lisitsa tweeted the following: "Heartbroken over news of Malaysian Airlines plane catastrophe. Disgusted over attempts to escalate the war using it as a pretext." How this translates to 'celebrating terrorists responsible for taking down MH17' is beyond me. If Lisitsa posted a tweet spelling this out, it must have come from Thorn's imagination as none can be found on Lisitsa's Twitter page.


    © Inna Thorn
    Picture of KLM's entertainment program by Inna Thorn, posted in the facebook group 'Russian Speaking Canadians For Peace' on August 23rd with the text: "I was so happy not to think about Putin trolls and Lisitsa and her hatred for a bit, and then during last hour of transcontinental KLM flight an unpleasant surprise. Imagine ))) I was wide awake right away. I am a regular KLM customer and KLM is to hear from me soon."

    In addition, a blog that spreads disinformation and hatred about Lisitsa claims that she is associated with 'Russia-backed' terrorists, and 'terrorist leader' Aleksander Zakharchenko who, according to its anonymous author, is "the person in command of those who shot down MH17 last year." One of its posts concludes:
    Quote ...Lisitsa's affection and support of those who bring death and destruction in East Ukraine and who are responsible for shooting down MH17 is obvious and is not a result of our imagination but of Lisitsa's actions and tweets, for which she does not seem to want to take any responsibility.
    To such supporters of the Western-installed regime in Kiev, those who are fighting for their lives in eastern Ukraine are 'terrorists', and Russia, which has sent tons of humanitarian aid to the region, is at fault. It completely escapes them that Lisitsa has a much better and more accurate understanding of the situation in Ukraine, which by now has claimed the lives of at least 50,000 civilians and servicemen since February last year. It is clear to anyone who has followed the developing chaos there that Lisitsa does not support 'terrorists', but simply supports those who are fighting to protect their loved ones against neo-nazi extremists and the Kiev regime, and offers some relief via her music to those who have suffered in this war:
    Quote Renowned pianist Lisitsa, who condemned Kiev war against E. Ukraine, to perform concert in Donbass

    ...Lisitsa stated that she would be very happy if it were held outdoors, "because I know how much interest and thirst for classical music and for music in general there is among Donbass residents, and I'm very excited to go there."

    Asked about whose composers' works she planned to play, Lisitsa noted that it would be "very symbolic to perform Prokofiev, because he is from that region; he was a composer whose roots are [in the Donbass region]" and his music was inspired and influenced by his homeland. Moreover, she plans to play beloved pieces by composers including Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven and Bach, whose "pieces... unite all of us - that make us feel like one close family."

    In addition to her hopes of giving joy to the people of Donbass, Lisitsa also hopes to show her fans and those who observe and follow her work that ordinary people "on all sides don't want war, to fight with each other; they don't want their children, their husbands, sons and daughters to die under bombs and bullets." She wants to show her Western followers that the people of Donbass are just like them, that they love classical music just like them. Noting that she will post videos of her performance on YouTube, she said that "I think that's the best kind of service I can possibly do for the people of Donbass."

    Comment:
    See also:

    Toronto Symphony Orchestra cancels Valentina Lisitsa concert for speaking out on Ukraine atrocities

    A story of courage through art: Valentina Lisitsa plays concert in Donetsk
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    Default Re: When Money Plays Harp... errr...

    Now we get an idea who the Toronto Symphony Orchestra works for:

    Jazz artist warned by US State Dept over participation in Crimea fest

    Published time: 2 Sep, 2015 15:11
    Edited time: 2 Sep, 2015 16:41

    http://www.rt.com/news/314106-jazz-b...imea-festival/
    Musician Igor Butman © Grigoriy Sisoev / RIA Novosti


    The leading light of the Russian jazz scene, Igor Butman, recently drew fire from Washington and Kiev when he agreed to play at the music festival held in the Crimean city of Koktebel. Butman received a warning from the US State Department not to attend.

    Butman, 53, who has worked with some of the world's finest musicians, including Ray Charles and Al Jarreau, told RT that music should never suffer because of politics.

    We should keep one side of life just without politics, especially jazz music, which is all about improvisation, [which] came from freedom... They are leaving us with no money and no audience if they say 'Do not perform there! If you play there, you play for this party or you play for that party...' No!” the saxophonist told RT.

    Butman, whom Bill Clinton famously called “one of the world's greatest living saxophonists,” has lived in the US for several years and has dual citizenship. The celebrated musician said he wrote a letter to the US President Barack Obama and plans to write one to Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko over the negative reaction his visit to the festival has caused.

    Ukraine warned last month that it would not let the participants of the Koktebel Jazz Party festival, held from August 28 to 30, enter the country. Russian journalist Dmitry Kiselyov, the festival's founder, then reminded Kiev that the international music event has been held in Koktebel since 2003, when Crimea was still part of Ukraine.

    Crimea rejoined Russia in March 2014 after a referendum in which the majority of people voted for secession from Ukraine and for joining Russia. Ukraine dubbed the result of the referendum Russia’s “illegal annexation.” Last April, Kiev launched a military operation in the southeast after the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions refused to recognize the new, coup-imposed authorities in the capital. According to a UN report, the conflict has killed nearly 6,500 people, wounded over 16,000 and left 5 million people in need of humanitarian aid in the past year.
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    Default Re: When Money Plays Harp... errr...

    Valentina Lisitsa and the politics of music programming

    Introduction by New Cold War.org, April 14, 2016

    The following article was published one year ago, following the banning by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in April 2015 of two scheduled concert performances by Ukrainian-born international concert pianist Valentina Lisitsa.

    On April 10, 2016, Valentina Lisitsa returned to Toronto for a performance hosted by the city’s prestigious Royal Conservatory of Music. Read a review of that concert as well as background to the whole story of her earlier banning here: Valentina Lisitsa returns to Toronto after TSO ban, lets her fingers do the talking.


    Koerner Hall, Toronto’s pre-eminent concert hall where Valentina Lisitsa performed on April 10, 2016

    The president of the TSO who banned Ms Lisitsa’s performance one year ago recently resigned from the post. Jeff Melanson faces allegations of sexual harassment against him by female employees of his previous job at the prestigious Banff Arts Center, and his wife is seeking an annulment of their marriage a little more than one year ago. Eleanor McCain is a highly talented and successful Canadian singer. She claims that Melanson married her for her money and her professional connections. She is a daughter of one of Canada’s wealthiest families.


    The politics of music programming

    By Michael Vincent, published on Musical Toronto (devoted to classical music), April 15, 2015

    [...]

    Full article: https://newcoldwar.org/valentina-lisitsa-politics-music-programming/
    "La réalité est un rêve que l'on fait atterrir" San Antonio AKA F. Dard

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