US orchestra stands by anti-Kyiv Valentina Lisitsa

US orchestra stands by anti-Kyiv Valentina Lisitsa

News

norman lebrecht

April 15, 2022

The Pasadena Symphony has sent us the reasoning for its decision to persist with the Dombass secessionist Valentina Lisitsa:

In 2019, the Pasadena Symphony scheduled renowned international musician and Ukrainian-American citizen Valentina Lisitsa to perform in our 2020-2021 season. Due to the COVID pandemic, all in-person concerts were cancelled, yet Ms. Lisitsa was gracious to perform as part of our online series. Her in-person concert in Pasadena was rescheduled for April 30, 2022.

In March, the Board of Directors of the Pasadena Symphony discussed Ms. Lisitsa’s social media posts from eight years ago regarding her then-ongoing concerns in Ukraine. Since then, all of Ms. Lisitsa’s social media accounts remain exclusively focused on music. We received her personal statement last month regarding the war in Ukraine and, as a result, decided to proceed with her upcoming engagement with the orchestra. We remain steadfast and unanimous in our support of her upcoming performance in Pasadena, as she continues to share her talents around the world, including last week in Paris at Theatre des Champs-Elysees. The Pasadena Symphony hopes for an immediate cessation of the Russian war on Ukraine. We also join Ms. Lisitsa in sharing our thoughts and condolences for those who have suffered such great loss.

We reproduce her present petition, alongside her warmongering support in 2015 for Ukraine secessionists.

UPDATE:

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