Breaking: Major pianist boycotts Trump’s US
NewsThe Hungarian Andras Schiff has announced he will not play in then US during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Schiff, 71, told the NY Times: ‘He has brought an ugliness into this world which hadn’t been there… I just find it impossible to go along with what is happening.’
He is particularly upset by the crackdown on immigrants: ‘When I hear this word deportation, it rings a bell — it rings a terrible bell… ‘My family, my Jewish family, was deported — some to Auschwitz, and some to other concentration camps.’
Schiff joins a tiny roster of Trump dissenters led by the German violinist Christian Tetzlaff and the young pianist Schaghajegh Nosrati. The Polish pianist Krystian Zimmerman has long shunned the US.
Here’s the full text of his statement:
Dear Friends, Colleagues and Music Lovers,
Due to the recent and unprecedented political changes in the United States, I feel morally obligated to withdraw from all engagements in the U.S. for the 2025-2026 season. This is not an easy decision to make. Since the 1970’s the U.S. has been very important in my life, including the many years I lived in New York City. There have been hundreds of concerts and wonderful experiences with excellent orchestras and musicians. Some of my closest friends live in the States. I have a great deal for which to be thankful.
Some people might say, “just shut up and play.” I cannot, in good conscience, do that. We do not live in an ivory tower where the arts are untouched by society. Arts and politics, arts and society are inseparable. Therefore, as artists, we must react to the horrors and injustices of this world. Have we learned nothing from the course of history — as recently as Europe in the 1930s? Perhaps not.
The American people have spoken – and we have heard them. Yes, indeed, there is a “new sheriff in town.” Which has made it a very different “town” — one that some of us no longer wish to visit. It is no longer obligatory.
Thank you for your friendship and continued support. Let’s not give up hope for better times.
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