Philadelphia Orchestra's Tosca disrupted

After the lights were down, the orchestra tuned, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin about to give the downbeat, loud amplified voices echoed throughout the hall. Two individuals seated near the front, at opposite sides of the stage, rose and began shouting. One of them carried what appeared to be amplifying equipment. The words were unintelligible but apparently were connected to an anti-Israel demonstration on the sidewalks and in the street outside the concert hall.

Nézet-Séguin slammed his baton down and walked off the stage. Some orchestra members rose and pointed to the demonstrators, looking around to see if anyone could come and quiet the disruption. Other orchestra members left the stage, saying later that they feared possible violence. After about ten minutes, security guards escorted the protesters out of the auditorium.

The orchestra’s interim co-president, Matthew Loden, told the audience: “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 audience applauded him loudly.

The Philadelphia Orchestra and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will tour Europe and Israel from May 24 through June 5, 2018, “as part of its commitment to cultural diplomacy,” according to the orchestra’s website. The Orchestra’s only previous visit to Israel was in 1992. Concerts are scheduled in Paris, Vienna, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Starting about 45 minutes before last night’s Tosca, demonstrators blocked traffic on Philadelphia’s main thoroughfare, Broad Street, in front of the Kimmel Center. After police cleared two lanes, the demonstrators stood on the sidewalk. Their signs denounced violence in the Middle East and “apartheid” and said “Don’t go to Israel.” When asked if audiences at concerts in Israel were racially segregated, a sign holder answered “I don’t know.” (No such segregation has been reported.)

One patron asked a leader of the protest, “Does that mean I should cancel my trip to Arab countries?” and the demonstrator said, “No.” “So why can’t people in Israel get to hear our orchestra?” the patron continued. The protestor did not answer.

After the concert began, protestors remained on the sidewalk and denounced, through bullhorns, a Lesbian-Gay-Transgender organization because it supposedly was racially prejudiced. The LGBT group was holding a social event in the hall of The University of the Arts, next door to the Kimmel Center.