Pianist Andras Schiff cancels US concerts over the ‘new sheriff in town'
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'Due to the recent and unprecedented political changes in the United States, I feel morally obligated to withdraw from all engagements in the US for the 2025-26 season,' wrote the Hungary-born British pianist and conductor, who performed in Hong Kong this week, in a statement.
'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.'
Schiff is considered one of the world's best interpreters of Mozart and Bach. Photo: HKAF
Schiff had been slated to appear with the Philadelphia Orchestra as both conductor and soloist in works by Bach and Mozart, and in pure orchestral pieces by Bartok and Kodaly, on May 7, 8 and 9 at the Marian Anderson Hall.
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