Protest planned at Morristown concert of pro-Putin conductor

MORRISTOWN – A concert to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the reopening of the Mayo Performing Arts Center on Friday has drawn the attention — and ire — of New Jersey's Ukrainian community.

The Morris County branch of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America — an umbrella group for many Ukrainian organizations across the country — is organizing a protest outside the renovated theater in Morristown prior to a return engagement by Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, whom the group and its supporters claim has endorsed Russian President Vladimir Putin and his country's military incursion into Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

UCCA Morris County President Michael Koziupa said several Ukrainian groups will be participating in the protest, including representatives from Essex, Passaic and Union counties. A bus has been hired to bring people to the protest, which is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra are scheduled to take the stage at 8 p.m. The world-famous conductor led the same orchestra, then known as the Kirov Orchestra, when it played the reopening concert at MPAC back in 1994, and the event is billed as the 20th anniversary of that reopening.

But Gergiev's reported ties to Putin and support of his Ukrainian incursion have drawn protests at his concerts around the world. Gergiev, also the principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, was one of 100 Russian arts and culture figures who signed an open letter last year, posted on the website of Russia's cultural ministry, supporting Putin's efforts to annex Crimea, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Gergiev has denied additional accusations that he supports Putin's policies that discriminate against homosexuals. But that did not stop LGBT activist group Queer Nation from interrupting his 2013 performances at the Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall in New York.

"We are not protesting MPAC or the orchestra," Koziupa said. "And we understand the contract (for Gergiev's MPAC concert) was signed in early 2014, before things began to develop in the Ukraine. But this is a different time and a different situation. When an orchestra leader supports the murder and displacement of hundreds of thousand of innocent people, he leaves himself open to protest."

Koziupa said he is expecting 50 to 100 people to attend the protest, which is being organized through social media and printed fliers. A "Conduct Peace, not War!" Facebook page shows 73 people indicating they will attend.

The Whippany-based Ukrainian-American Cultural Center also is sharing information about the protest with its members.

"To be sure, there will be those who argue that an artist's personal views should not matter, that politics should not sully the purity of the arts," said Roma Hadzewycz, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian Weekly newspaper in Parsippany. "But it was Gergiev himself who brought politics into the arts. To defend this avowed supporter of Putin's terrorism is disingenuous and dishonest."

"Our (Friday) concert by the Mariinsky Orchestra celebrates 20 years of the performing arts in Morristown with many of the individuals responsible for making the rebirth of our theater possible in 1994," Allison Larena, president and chief executive officer of MPAC wrote in a statement Thursday. "Mr. Gergiev has dedicated this concert to his friend, the late pianist (and Morristown resident) Alexander Slobodyanik, who came up with original concept for the Morris International Festival of the Arts in 1994, an event which reached across political divides to celebrate the power and passion of music. We are fortunate to live in a country that embraces peaceful protests and hope that any demonstrators will be respectful."

There are an estimated 50,000 Ukrainians living in New Jersey, and more than 120,000 in the New York Metropolitan area, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

In an interview with the Daily Record, while speaking about the anniversary concert, Gergiev referred to the Russia-Ukraine conflict as "heartbreaking."

"I'm very lucky to have a great many friends in America and Canada (and other countries)," Gergiev said. "Relationships are not always easy between friends, but I hope that there will be a way to end these problems."

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com.