Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators Disrupt Philadelphia Orchestra Concert
(JTA) — Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested an upcoming visit to Israel by the Philadelphia Orchestra by disrupting its farewell performance of “Tosca.”
About 60 demonstrators blocked traffic and two of them entered the downtown Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, leading to the Saturday night concert being halted for 10 minutes, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
According to the report, music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin slammed his baton on the podium and walked off the stage followed by some of the musicians. The two demonstrators were forcibly removed from the hall.
“We live in an age where dissent is important. It matters. It should be heard. But the sanctity of the concert hall should be respected,” the orchestra’s interim co-president, Matthew Loden, told the crowd before the performance resumed, according to the newspaper.
The orchestra left Thursday for a two-week trip to Europe and Israel, where it is scheduled to perform in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem from June 3 to 5.
Contact Alyssa Fisher at [email protected] or on Twitter, @alyssalfisher
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30