Canada Censors Artists, Silences Scientists (But Good With Crack ’Ho Toronto Mayor)

Valentin a Lisitsa is a brilliant musician, a famous virtuoso pianist, also known for publicly expressing her opinion on the Ukrainian conflict through her Twitter account. She is a good friend of the Slavyangrad Team and has kindly translated a number of articles for our publication. Her views are always insightful and she has never made them a secret. We are lucky to have Valentina’s first-hand account about dealings with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (“TSO”), which has decided to cancel her concert because of her political opinions. The TSO’s decision to silence Valentina’s music because she has exercised her inviolable right to express her beliefs is a message to all artists that the next time it could be them.

Virtuoso pianist Valentina Lisitsa says she has been speaking out against the "atrocities" of the civil war, particularly those committed against the Russian minority in Ukraine's eastern and southern regions. She translated articles from Europe's alternative press and posted them on her Twitter account. Her views were considered "objectionable" as well as her language - TSO President and CEO claims she used "deeply offensive language" and was "inciting hatred." Also apparently at issue, the Charlie Hebdo cartoon pictured here:



It started with silencing scientists. Now, the artists are getting shut down. Who's next?



TSO drops Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa over offensive comments

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Since when is the TSO "Canada"? I checked their site to see if they were publicly funded or a private entity but it wasn't clear. If a private entity they can do as they choose.

a reply to: soficrow

TSO President and CEO claims she used "deeply offensive language" and was "inciting hatred."

While she was playing?

Good thing about being a musician is you can take that anywhere.

I don't get how this relates to the whole of Canada, or Rob Ford. Toronto Symphony Orchestra is funded by donors through their Friends of TSO campaign, and millions have been donated by anonymous wealthy benefactors.

The TSO doesn't want to be a stage for ANY opinion pro or anti anything. They want their concerts to be about music. Call them purists.

The pianist in question is amazing, and she'll be fine. If anything, she's more famous, as a pianist and an activist, after this.

originally posted by: intrepid
Since when is the TSO "Canada"? I checked their site to see if they were publicly funded or a private entity but it wasn't clear. If a private entity they can do as they choose.

I believe that TSO is a not-for-profit charity.

Charity Intelligence Canada Page

Current TSO annual report

TSO Homepage - Support the TSO heading will give you a list of supporters/sponsors.

Always look to the board to see who has a political interest in this. Whoever is pulling Harper's strings is trying to get some attention from him, because be honest, who knows about her tweets unless it's made public? Would the concert audience care? I sincerely doubt it. She can express herself in whatever way she wants, but someone wants to score political points, imho.

a reply to: intrepid

Happened the same time TO got to be "Canada."


; )

originally posted by: Atsbhct
...The TSO doesn't want to be a stage for ANY opinion pro or anti anything. They want their concerts to be about music. Call them purists.

Lisitsa separates her music from her political options and does NOT express her opinions on stage. But given your opinion, I take it you don't think artists should be politically aware or -gawdforbid- express their awareness in their art?

a reply to: soficrow
Wow...TO has downgraded!

What happened to centre of the known universe?

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: soficrow

TSO President and CEO claims she used "deeply offensive language" and was "inciting hatred."

While she was playing?

No - not while she was playing. She is being censored from expressing her political opinions outside her work, and in a way that does not affect her work or employer.

originally posted by: peck420
a reply to: soficrow
Wow...TO has downgraded!

What happened to centre of the known universe?

Nothing's happened, if you believe people who think a maple leaf is blue.

originally posted by: aboutface
who knows about her tweets unless it's made public?

www.musicaltoronto.org...

Valentina Lisitsa alleges that she was shunned by the TSO after she was accused of inciting hatred by a lobby group claiming to represent the Ukrainian community. The group allegedly contacted the TSO, and notified them of tweets made by Valentina Lisitsa which included a tweet pertaining to the Charlie Hebdo caricatures. The TSO then opted to cancel her appearance, to avoid any potential political controversy.

“Trying, in their own words, to teach me a lesson,” Lisitsa said, “they have now attempted to silence me as a musician.”

o, I took to Twitter ( how many of you know I have a Twitter account? LOL) under a name “NedoUkraïnka” – a word roughly meaning “Sub-Ukrainian”, a stab at Ukrainian Prime Minister who called Russian-speaking Southern and Eastern Ukrainians “SUBHUMANS”! Yes, I kid you not. In an official written document. I am a subhuman, my husband, my mom….I mastered Ukrainian language perfectly, far better than a so-called “president” of Ukraine. But I don’t speak it to my family, I didn’t sing lullabies to my son in Ukrainian, when I sleep I never see the dreams in Ukrainian, when I will be dying my last words will NOT be in Ukrainian….
***
To give you just one example: one of my feats was to confront French fashion magazine “Elle” who published a glowing cover story about women in Ukrainian army. After the research I have shown to the magazine in my Twitter posts that the “cover girl” they have chosen to show was in fact a horrible person, open Neo-Nazi, racist, anti-Semite who boasted of murdering civilians for fun! The magazine issued a written public apology.
***
Back in December someone in the orchestra top management, likely after the pressure from a small but aggressive lobby claiming to represent Ukrainian community, has made a decision that I should not be allowed to play. I don’t even know who my accusers are, I am kept in the dark about it. I was accused of “inciting hatred” on Twitter. As the “proof” , ironically enough, they presented to the orchestra my tweets containing, of all things, Charlie Hebdo caricatures depicting lying media!!! We all know what those who can’t tolerate free speech did to Charlie Hebdo journalists.
Now, the orchestra based in one of the freest democratic countries is bending over to the same kind of people, helping them to assassinate me – not as a living person yet , but as a MUSICIAN for sure.

she was tweeting using an anonymous username
the real question here is how her MYSTERIOUS AND SECRET ACCUSERS managed to find out who she really was, though it seems even before the tweets she was getting HATE from the NATO backed NAZI junta currently wrecking the country.

they either did some illegal hacking, or an alphabet/gov agency "legally" provided the details.
seems the war mongers are so desperate they've dispensed with any and all decency's.

even the spanish inquisition provided you with paper and pen so that you could provide a list of enemies
and if your accuser was named in that list, you had a much better chance at being let go.

a reply to: AdamuBureido

Are you forgetting that CSEC is tied into the US system that's been monitoring and linking keystrokes to ID? Perhaps they were the ones to make the link and the Harper govt leaked the info to the group? It gives me shivers honestly.

originally posted by: aboutface
a reply to: AdamuBureido

Are you forgetting that CSEC is tied into the US system that's been monitoring and linking keystrokes to ID? Perhaps they were the ones to make the link and the Harper govt leaked the info to the group? It gives me shivers honestly.

it had escaped my notice but that's what i was trying to say
the mystery lobby group is obviously a gov or alphabet agency
she should sue and flush out these accusers

She needs to take them all to court and sue them, as many times as it takes to fire that cannon of justice and make sure the penalty is to ask for all involved, to loose their income, their pensions, their dental, their futures, their homes, and to win it all. And don't give up. Because when a huge constitutional evil crime takes place, its like the UNIVERSE handed this job to you. And you have to take them all to court over and over, if a judge is a criminal, add him to the list and his removal of income, job, pension, dental and homes.

THEY NEED TO GET IT. HARD BALL FROM THE PEOPLE. TOUGH CONSEQUENCES FOR ABUSE OF POWER.

PERIOD.

a reply to: soficrow

Under Steven Harper Canada has become a little Neocon Zionist paradise

a reply to: soficrow

The same goes in the UK with Gilad Atzmon for ex. (And Jeremy Clarkson but that's another story ...).



And more recently, a conference has been cancelled at Southampton University :
Hidden Agenda at Southampton University?

She's not being censored, she's been let go because her political views are bringing her workplace into disrepute.
Where i work i can be sacked for what i post on social media.
It's very very common now, it's even written itno a lot of peoples contracts.

a reply to: WilsonWilson

Same thing, and by the way, it has to start somewhere we people fight back. The reason this monstrous murderous evil regime occurs, all over our planet, is because in well to do countries, the working class are censored, and need to fit in. So nothing changes.

And in the third world, the little disempowered male gets kingship over his family so he still feels empowered to dominate and he's passified, and little changes.

This is how they do it.

And people have to UNDO it!

originally posted by: WilsonWilson
She's not being censored, she's been let go because her political views are bringing her workplace into disrepute.
Where i work i can be sacked for what i post on social media.
It's very very common now, it's even written itno a lot of peoples contracts.

Censoring peoples' political views is censorship - and violates the right to Freedom of Speech. It would be different if she was acting illegally - posting porn or supporting terrorism - but she wasn't. She was translating articles from Europe's alternative press, flagging disparities between the truth in Ukraine and MSM reports in North America, posting Charlie Hebdo cartoons, and expressing her support for her own people. All legal.

The TSO is bringing Canada into disrepute. True, Canada has a large, politically powerful anti-Russian Ukrainian community - but when did the majority gain the legal right to silence the minority? And when did political groups gain the right to access private information collected under privilege by Canada's spy agencies?

The TSO does not have the right to break our nation's laws, or take away anyone's Rights as protected by our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

ALL of our Rights and Freedoms are under attack, right now. We need to stand together to protect each other and our nation's integrity. Now. Or we all will be really, really sorry. Even those who think they're winning now - 'cuz when the power shifts, and the Rights are gone, they're the ones who will be silenced.

And never mind the essential roles of artists in society - they are the last who should be silenced, not the first.