MSO targeted over Gandel link at Melbourne orchestra’s London performance

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has been silenced during a concert at London’s BBC Proms by protesters angry that it cancelled the performance of a pianist who spoke out against the killing of Palestinian journalists.

A group calling itself Jewish Artists for Palestine claimed responsibility for disrupting the MSO’s performance at the Royal Albert Hall for a live broadcast on BBC Radio 3, stopping the music and forcing the concert to restart.

“The MSO has blood on its hands,” roared a woman in the crowd, in a video filmed by an audience member, and uploaded to social media.

“You silenced Jayson Gillham! The MSO is complicit in genocide! You silence artists! The MSO is complicit!”

Video footage of the concert was posted to Instagram, jointly uploaded by accounts belonging to Andrew Feinstein, an investigative author and activist, actors Maxine Peake and Khalid Abdalla, and climate and political activist Greta Thunberg, among others. It is not clear if these individuals are members of the group, Jewish Artists for Palestine, or, indeed, who are the members of that group.

The MSO cancelled a concert by pianist Gillham after he made a statement in support of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza before a performance in August 2024. It cancelled the next MSO event at which Gillham was to perform, and released a statement saying his comments were not appropriate and “an intrusion of personal political views”.

The MSO later said it had made an error in cancelling Gillham’s shows.

Gillham later reached an in-principle settlement with former MSO managing director Sophie Galaise, but is still suing the MSO.

The trial begins on December 1, and the musician says he has raised more than $100,000 to put towards his legal fees.

On its website, Jewish Artists for Palestine said its members were angry that the MSO had accepted “principal funding from the Gandel Foundation”, which it described as “vocal supporters of the genocide in Gaza, and long-time associates of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu”.

There is no suggestion that the allegation is true, only that it has been made by the Jewish Artists for Palestine group.

The Gandel Foundation has also been in the sights of Melbourne’s pro-Palestine protesters, who rallied outside the National Gallery of Victoria in late July in protest against the gallery receiving the family’s financial backing.

On July 27, pro-Palestine protesters marched on the gallery, sending it into lockdown, writing on the gallery wall slogans such as “NGV funded by Zionists”, and holding banners which said, “NGV, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide”.

On Saturday, the foundation had no comment to make on the MSO incident, though earlier this month it told this masthead it would not be deterred from its support of the NGV.

Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, said the fresh “attack” on the Gandels was “no different to what we saw at the NGV, a targeted campaign against a Jewish family”.

“Let’s be clear: When a Jewish family is singled out in this way, it can only be described as one thing – antisemitism. Explicit, unmistakable antisemitism, regardless of the label this anonymous group chooses for itself.”

After the NGV protest, Premier Jacinta Allan labelled the actions extremist and antisemitic, saying the demonstrators were shameful and that she supported the Gandel family.

Polish immigrants Sam and Faye Gandel founded the Sussan women’s fashion chain. Their son, John Gandel, became the billionaire co-owner of Chadstone shopping centre. John Gandel is married to Pauline Gandel, who was honoured with a Companion of the Order of Australia for her community work.

The Gandel family has donated more than $150 million over the years to various institutions and causes, including $2 million to the Melbourne Museum, $2 million to the State Library of Victoria and $2 million to the NGV for the Pauline Gandel Gallery of Japanese Art.

The family are long-standing supporters of Israel. The Gandel Foundation funds the Birthright program, which is managed by the Zionist Federation of Australia and provides free tours of Israel, Jerusalem and the occupied Golan Heights for young Jewish adults from around the world.

In the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, when about 1200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage, John Gandel told The Australian Financial Review that Israel had to go “all out” in response. “There’s sort of no choice. If they don’t go all out, it means they withdraw. They can’t do it gently,” he said.

In the two years since, at least 60,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in Gaza, which is now in the grip of starvation, prompting a humanitarian outcry and leading some countries to move towards recognising a Palestinian state. Gandel has made no further public remarks about the conflict.

Days after the initial Gillham incident last year, MSO musicians sent a vote of no confidence to the board, requesting the removal of Galaise and chief operating officer Guy Ross, and asking for an independent review of what had happened.

Galaise was sacked weeks later, a decision she described as unfair. Last November, she reached her own settlement with the MSO. She had lodged a Fair Work complaint after being sacked for her handling of the Gillham affair. No details of the settlement were provided.

In a statement on Saturday night, the MSO said: “We are proud of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for the resilience and professionalism demonstrated in its performance in London.

“The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra was making its first visit to the BBC Proms under Chief Conductor Jaime Martín, with a sold-out performance at Royal Albert Hall.

“The London performance was the culmination of the MSO’s successful tour of Europe. We are proud of our musicians for delivering a world-class performance at one of the world’s great music venues.”

In a statement to its newsroom on Friday, the BBC said: “We are sorry about the disruption to our coverage of the BBC Proms on Radio 3 tonight.

“There was a disturbance at tonight’s Prom which meant the concert was paused for a few minutes and the live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 diverted to prerecorded music.

“The incident was dealt with swiftly by the Royal Albert Hall.

“Our priority is always the safety and wellbeing of everyone who attends the BBC Proms, and we would like to thank our staff and the performers whose response helped keep disruption to a minimum.”

The protest group, Palestine Action, was banned in Britain in July after a High Court judge refused its request to temporarily block the UK government from proscribing it as a terror group. The ban means supporting Palestine Action has become a criminal offence, with membership or expressing support for the group punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

With Stephen Brook and Cara Waters