Just in: Sibelius Competition tells Russians to stay away
NewsThe hyper-neutral Sibelius Violin Competition initially boasted that, in the interests of fairness and professionalism, it was admitting 2 Ukrainian finalists and 2 Russians to the contest.
Now it has issued a further statement:
In the light of Russia’s increasingly violent war in Ukraine, the Competition Committee has decided to exclude Russian competitors from the XII International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition.
On March 7, 2022, the Competition Committee decided that all competitors would be judged purely on their artistic merits. Two young Russian violinists qualified in the preliminary selection process. The preliminary jury followed the guidelines of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) that competitors should not be excluded from the competition solely on the basis of nationality. The Jean Sibelius Violin Competition is a member of the world federation.
However, the situation has changed since the beginning of March as the war in Ukraine has continued to intensify. Therefore, on 8 April 2022, the Competition Committee re-examined the possibilities for Russian competitors selected for the Jean Sibelius Violin Competition and concluded that, in the current exceptional circumstances, participation in the competition was not possible. The horrors of the war and the recently uncovered atrocities have meant that the Competition Committee has no moral or ethical option but to exclude the Russians from the competition. With this decision, the Competition Committee also wants to guarantee a neutral and peaceful environment for all competitors.
There are many problems with concepts of collective guilt. Historically, collective punishment is associated with authoritarian regimes. In modern ethics and law, guilt is defined as personal. In a society as undemocratic as Russia where the people have so little voice in government, the assignation of collective guilt for the actions of leaders is especially problematic. And finally, the greatest irony is that concepts of collective guilt are one of the foundations of genocide.
Bucha. There, solved your problems.
No, it solves nothing. The Russian people don’t know what happened in Bucha because their media is lying to them.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-business-media-facebook-21d36ea4370bab98b1cc93baa0815dd8
Ignorance is no defence. Plenty of them know, anyway. As a population, they just choose to ignore it.
be careful how much western corporate media you consume
“With this decision, the Competition Committee also wants to guarantee a neutral and peaceful environment for all competitors.”
Except Russians. Not Putinists, Russians.
Russians are bad for the environment?
Very good move. It shows that competitions are not about artistry but about money or politics.
It will be also interesting to watch who is going to apply for the upcoming Tchaikovsky competition.
Are these young people guilty of being born in Russia? Maybe they participate in the international competitions because they want to escape from this cruel country? And now competition committee deprived them of this opportunity. No matter where you were born – whether you are HUMAN or not.
Indeed. And then: did the Russian competitors express support for the current war strategy of the Russian regime? If not, there is no reason whatsoever to exclude them. It is group think – seeing people not as individuals but first and foremost as representative of a group (as Mr Osborne rightly ecxplained).
If sportsmen and woman banned, why not musicians? What is it that makes them ‘special’?
Sportsmen are NOT banned. Only national teams. Russian hockey, football and tennis players keep being employed in the west as individuals and rightfully so.
Hypocrisy. You study 15+ years to play like Paganini and then someone called “Russian politics” starts the war. When they started the war you were playing violin, when they kill each other you were playing violin. You hope for the best future for yourself.
But you have a Russian ID.
And these stupid competitions’ managers decide to act like this. Because of “moral or ethical”. I would very much like to see them all canceled when their government will do something similar to Putin. Of course, you will say that they are not that crazy, but the same thoughts had Russian violinists until you got them canceled because of ID.
Stupid, stupid world. No moral, no ethics. Just primeval desire to devour each other.
What about Ukrainian musicians who are unable to prepare competitions because they’re either defending their country either hiding in shelters? What about Ukrainian kids which had no choice but putin made choice for them and gave them no future by killing them? There will be many more competitions, they can surely wait a bit for war to pass.
Any kind of music, and musics too, would never be mixted with human wars! Never! Never! Never!
Putin is a murderer, a barbarian, a war criminal who must be stopped. However, just because someone is Russian doesn’t mean they support his war against Ukraine. Are American musicians responsible for what Presidents Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton, Carter, etc., etc. do?
rediculous. Only fuels Putin’s claim of ‘cancel culture’ by the West. Young talented musicians (and athletes) are not to be blamed but rather shown compassion which is always a better way forward.
There really are no good guys out there. Just thugs on each side.
This is an exceptionally ill-informed comment.
And plenty of good people on both sides, too, correct?
It would valuable and helpful, if we only had some Russian musicians comment here. To know what this war has done to their lives because of cancelling them.
But I sadly suspect, their voices have been cut off from forums like this. 🙁
Sad for the contestants but surely Putin has to be made to recognise that life cannot go on as normal when such atrocoties are happening in the name of Russia? Every small gesture should help.
You know what – we forbid every EU state and US to perform any piece by Russian composer. Let’s have a look when you have a desire to play some Rachmaninov or Shostakovich. Those of you out there playing Russian music are Putin’s supporters.
Wrong and incorrect decision. Shame on the competition. This decision does nothing, affects nothing, stops nothing and punishes no one connected with the war. If shaming young musicians who are hostages of this terrible situation affords the feeling of quick emotional gratification to the competition – congratulations, now you can feel good about yourself. Putin is saying all the time that the world is deeply rusophobic, and the decision of the Sibelius competition proved him right and supported his propaganda machine. Well, as I said – congratulations, the competition can now bask in its useless righteousness.
I believe the Sibelius Competition Committee has made a poor decision. The two Russian competitors have not taken a personal position regarding Putin or the invasion of Ukraine. To punish these young musicians due to no fault of their own is neither moral nor ethical. More effective would be having them compete in an environment of fairness and inclusion. They could then go home to Russia and speak of their experience.
The Sibelius Competition is affiliated with UNESCO and ResiliArt, and have written on their website: “This is why we joined ResiliArt, a global movement for arts professionals launched by UNESCO. The ResiliArt movement raises public awareness of the challenges faced by artists in this time of crisis through virtual discussions with key industry professionals.” Exclusion negates discussion. “Art makes us resilient” needs to be lived to have meaning.
God save Ukraine.
I remember that time when all American artists were canceled when the Irak war… oh no, wait…
I can’t imagine that Putin cares one iota about Russian musicians or their careers, especially outside Russia. Punishing the musicians, as well as sports people, or any others is complete woke nonsense. All it does, in this case, is deprive young musicians from a chance at a competition they may have been preparing for most of their lives.
What exactly will banning Russian competitors from this competition solve? Does anyone really think this is some kind of positive gesture, or more for optics?