Jayson Gillham announces tour with Palestinian-Jordanian musician ahead of MSO court case
When Jayson Gillham took a stand at Melbourne’s Iwaki Auditorium in August 2024, he was told by his supporters he was “ahead of his time”,“Actually, I think I was 10 months late,” the Australian-British pianist says, a year and a half after the furore first hit,It was processing the media reports of genocide in Gaza that shifted something fundamental in Gillham, the realisation that his role as a performer could no longer remain siloed from the world outside the concert hall,“I felt I had to say and do something – respond in a musical way to what I was seeing,” he says,“That was really the moment where I thought, well, something has to change about my career.
”The fallout from that musical response – a short speech dedicated by the composer Connor D’Netto to the more than 100 Palestinian journalists who had been killed in Gaza – was swift and institutional,The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra cancelled his subsequent appearance, citing “safety concerns” and sparking a national firestorm over whether an artist should ever bring politics into the sanctuary of their performance space,Poised for a face-off with the MSO in the federal court in May, Gillham remains defiant,“I stand by what I said,The words I chose … they were quite pointed in exactly the right way, and they were just what needed to be said about that piece of music.
”Gillham’s conviction has transformed the Queensland-born pianist from an apolitical concert soloist into the applicant in a landmark federal court workplace rights case,But while the lawyers argue over the principles of artistic freedom and contractor v employee definitions, Gillham has found a more immediate way to keep delivering his protest message: he is simply building his own stage,In July, Gillham will embark on a national tour with Palestinian-Jordanian pianist Iyad Sughayer and he has produced the tour entirely independently,Hiring venues, managing the ticketing and bearing all the financial risk is a bold move but it also means the performer can bypass the institutional gatekeepers who previously attempted to silence him,“It’s sort of a natural progression for me … moving more into the space of artistic curation … putting on the kind of concerts and collaborating with people that I want to collaborate with,” he says.
“And I want to have this direct line to my audience … the people who support me and write to me directly.And I know that there are many people who are itching to come to a concert of mine.”As for the “safety” concerns that resulted in his previous Melbourne concert axed, Gillham is dismissive.In his self-presented tour, he is working directly with flagship venues such as the Melbourne Recital Centre and Sydney’s City Recital Hall.“I don’t see any issue.
We’re bringing a concert like any other,” he says,“The venues are very much on board and support the project,”But he also hopes his entrepreneurial move will not set a precedent,“I don’t want it to become necessary for people to self-present, because not everyone can do it,” he says,“Why I’m bringing the case is because I think what I’m fighting for is that [a performer] should be able to do that, even if the presenter is somebody else; that it’s not really a normal thing for artists to be told what they can and can’t say on stage.
”Gillham met Sughayer at a London fundraising concert for Gaza two years ago and found a shared musical vision that transcended mere technique; it was a shared vision that saw music as powerful tool for human connection rather than mere formal performance,Recognised as a rising star by Classic FM and a recipient under the UK’s Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT), the now Manchester-based Sughayer has forged a reputation as one of the world’s leading interpreters of the works of Aram Khachaturian,His debut recording of the Armenian composer’s piano works was described as “outstanding” by BBC Music Magazine,The inclusion of Khachaturian adds to a program lush in classical and romantic repertoire – Mozart, Ravel and Debussy – in which Gillham has already carved a niche, earning him the title of “the ideal romantic” by Limelight magazine, which named him Australian artist of the year in both the critics’ choice and people’s choice categories in 2024,Australian audiences will also witness the world premiere of a new commission by Palestinian-Lebanese composer Houtaf Khoury.
Still waiting to see the finished score, Gillham is unable to give much detail, but the inclusion of Khoury’s voice in the program is clearly a continuation of the musical response that compelled Gillham to take a stand back almost two years ago,The legal battle has clearly matured Gillham’s view of the concert hall,He no longer sees it as a vacuum but as a space for truth,“In terms of my role as an artist … I have more of a clear picture,” he says,“I’ve always loved playing the piano and I’ve loved sharing music with audiences, and now I feel like I understand what art is a bit more, like I have another perspective on it.
It’s certainly broadened and probably deepened and matured my understanding of the role of artists in society.” Keys to Life: Two Friends, Two Pianos is at the Melbourne Recital Centre on 19 July, Brisbane’s QPAC on 22 July, Adelaide’s Elder Hall on 24 July and Sydney’s City Recital Hall on 26 July
Tiger Woods says looking at his phone led to Florida rollover crash
Tiger Woods told authorities he was looking down at his phone and changing the radio station before his rollover crash last week in Florida, according to a probable cause affidavit.The 50-year-old golf star was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on Friday afternoon after his Land Rover clipped a truck and rolled on to its side near his home on Jupiter Island.According to the affidavit, obtained Tuesday by the Guardian, Woods told Martin County sheriff’s investigators that he did not notice the vehicle in front of him had slowed down before the crash.The affidavit states that Woods attempted to pass the vehicle by crossing over a double yellow line into oncoming traffic before striking it with the front right side of his SUV, causing him to lose control and flip on to the driver’s side.Deputies said Woods was the sole occupant of the vehicle and was unable to exit from the driver’s side due to the rollover, instead climbing out through the front passenger side
‘Death hunted him since he was a kid’: how Lamar Odom survived to become a villain in his own tale
A new documentary charts the tragic events that led to the former NBA star overdosing in a Nevada brothel – and what came nextThere’s a version of the Lamar Odom story that ends in a Nevada brothel. It’s not hard to imagine the grand finale – the TMZ bulletin relating his fatal drug overdose, followed by emotional tributes to what was lost: a radical basketball prodigy of the New York tradition, a two-time NBA champion with the Kobe Bryant Lakers, a glittering career that spanned coasts and eras before caving under the weight of addiction. A cautionary tale of incandescent fame, with Odom’s celebrity wife Khloé Kardashian cast as a man-eater to eclipse her more notorious older sister, would have been the epilogue cemented in a thousand think pieces.But by living to tell the tale, Odom has instead become the latest fallen star to prove a core truism of Western mythmaking: heroes who don’t die young are doomed to live long enough to become the villain in their own tale.“There is a way of understanding Lamar where everything in his life is kind of in reaction to death hunting him since he was a kid,” says Ryan Duffy, executive producer of Netflix’s Untold sports docuseries
County Championship 2026: team-by-team guide to the new season
Surrey look well placed to reclaim the title after their runner-up finish last season while all eyes are on promotion for LancashireCaptain Tom Westley Coach Chris Silverwood Last season 6th Div OneEssex seemed to spend most of last summer chasing their tail. The bowling resources were stretched, with Sam Cook battling injury as well as spending time with England and Simon Harmer not romping through sides with quite the gusto he once did. Some prudent signings have added ballast: zippy Zaman Akhter from Gloucestershire and young Mitchell Killeen, from Durham, can provide cover for Cook and the ever reliable Jamie Porter. Jordan Cox will miss the early part of the season with the IPL but young Charlie Allison has a chance to make a name for himself after a fabulous 2025. Prediction 6thCaptain Kiran Carlson Coach Richard Dawson Last season 2nd Div TwoAfter 20 years skulking around Division Two, Glamorgan are finally back in the big time
The Breakdown | Parling’s TV spat with Doyle symbolises the tug of war for rugby’s modern soul
No prizes for guessing the most viewed rugby clip at the weekend. The number of views on X has long since passed three million and – spoiler alert – people were not studying the finer detail of Gloucester’s defensive effort at Villa Park on Saturday. Leicester’s Geoff Parling used to be just another stern-faced Prem coach; suddenly he is an unlikely global social media star.For those who missed it – and here’s hoping you enjoyed your mini-break on Jupiter – here is a potted summary. The TNT Sports presenter Craig Doyle and a new colleague, Liam MacDevitt, were on the pitch before the game, with MacDevitt being urged to take a kick at goal as part of his on-screen Prem initiation
Middlesex ‘drifting towards irrelevance’: Gatting leads revolt against club leadership
A group of past Middlesex players led by the former England captain Mike Gatting has delivered a withering assessment of the county’s leadership on the eve of the new season and warned the club risk “drifting towards irrelevance”.In an open letter to members – a clarion call before the club’s annual general meeting on 15 April – Gatting and his co-signatories have highlighted a lack of transparency and called the cricket setup “a mess”.The former West Indies opener Desmond Haynes and England’s Mark Ramprakash are among others to have put their names to the letter.They wrote: “Middlesex was once a byword for excellence in the game, a club with a proud history of success and a strong, competitive culture brought about by hard work on and off the pitch. Instead, around the counties the men’s teams now are variously regarded as ‘a soft touch’ and ‘lacking fight’
Sinner and Sabalenka’s Sunshine Doubles turn up heat on chasing pack
“No, I think it’s all an individual sport,” Jannik Sinner says, chuckling quietly, as he reflects on another triumphant fortnight at the Miami Open after his efficient win over Jiri Lehecka. Sinner had been asked whether he was aware that his win meant the maintenance of one of the defining records of this new era of men’s tennis: since the Madrid Open in April 2024, every tournament with Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz present has been won by either player. The duopoly continues.Unsurprisingly, Sinner was far more focused on what the victory meant to him. By following his Indian Wells triumph with a title in Miami, he secured one of the greatest achievements of his career in the Sunshine Double
Keir Starmer gives resident doctors 48 hours to call off strike or lose training offer
Vaping likely to cause lung and oral cancer, Australian researchers find in new review of evidence
Expansion of HMP Parc in Wales should be paused, MPs say
Court of appeal says it cannot rule on which identical twin fathered a child
Prison officers are key to reforming the criminal justice system | Letter
Adults underestimate risk of abuse posed to women by ex-partners, UK data shows