Acclaimed pianist loses Gaza speech case against Melbourne orchestra

An acclaimed British-Australian pianist has lost his workplace discrimination case against the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) over comments he made about Gaza during a performance.

Jayson Gillham sued the MSO after it cancelled one of his performances in 2024, days after he said during another show that Israel had killed more than 100 Palestinian journalists in Gaza.

But Justice Graeme Hill ruled that Mr Gillham's concert was not scrapped because of his political beliefs.

Rather, it was to "address the anticipated adverse impacts" of the pianist's comments on the orchestra's business and reputation, he ruled.

"I find that the MSO did have a policy for not expressing support for either side of the Israel-Gaza conflict," Justice Hill said.

"I find that there is a custom or practice that classical musicians do not make statements on sensitive political or social issues from the stage without approval of the host."

In a short statement after the ruling, Mr Gillham said: "I am disappointed and I need time to process the judgment before saying more."

The case centred around a short introduction that Mr Gillham read out during a performance in Melbourne on 11 August 2024, when he premiered a five-minute piece called Witness, written by composer Connor D'Netto, which was dedicated to the journalists of Gaza.

He said more than 100 Palestinian journalists had been killed by Israel since October 2023 when the war in Gaza began and that Israel was carrying out "targeted assassinations of prominent journalists".

"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," he told the audience of about 150 people during the Sunday morning concert.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent organisation that promotes press freedom, reports that 207 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.

The MSO received three complaints about Mr Gillham's comments and decided to cancel a recital he was due to perform on 15 August - prompting almost 500 complaints - though it later said that move was an "error" and sought to reschedule the show.

During the trial, the MSO argued that its stage was not a platform for "expressing personal views" but Mr Gillham's legal team said it was his legal workplace right to express his political belief and should not be mistreated because of it.

On the last day of the trial, Hill had urged both sides to try to resolve the matter between themselves to avoid him "having to say the things I need to say in a judgment".

The Federal Court's decision came after a three-week trial which wrapped up last month, in which about two dozen witnesses gave evidence including Gillham and senior MSO executives.