"The Pianists' Textbook" Andr?s Schiff "I Do Not Perform in the US"

Protesting Trump’s Actions... Cancels Next Year’s New York Philharmonic Performance
"Trump Has Brought an Unprecedented Ugliness to the World"

World-renowned pianist Andr?s Schiff (Andras Shif, 71) from Hungary has declared that he will no longer perform in the United States in protest against the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump.

On the 19th (local time), the American daily The New York Times (NYT) reported this after conducting a phone interview with Schiff. Schiff expressed shock at President Trump's statements regarding Ukraine, as well as his expansionist threats related to Canada, Greenland, and the Gaza Strip, and his support for far-right politicians in Germany. He criticized President Trump’s behavior as "unbelievable bullying."

Hungarian pianist Andr?s Schiff

Born into a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary, and having witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust, Schiff said that President Trump's demand for mass deportations of immigrants reminded him of the suffering Jews endured when they lost their homes and were driven out during World War II.

Schiff stated, "(President Trump) has brought ugliness that did not exist in the world," and firmly declared, "I cannot participate in what is happening now." He then canceled his scheduled performances with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra next spring. He also added that he would cancel his recital tour at New York's Carnegie Hall planned for this fall.

Schiff is regarded as an authority on the interpretations of Bach and Mozart, praised for his refined and sophisticated performances, earning the nickname "the textbook for pianists." Previously, he had refused to perform not only in his homeland Hungary but also in Russia due to authoritarian presidential rule. Schiff has also strongly criticized the European right-wing movements. In the past, he criticized the erosion of democracy in his native Hungary under the far-right-leaning President Viktor Orb?n and has not visited Hungary since 2010. In a 2013 interview with the British BBC, he said he had been threatened with having his hands cut off if he returned to Hungary.

In the early 2000s, while living in Austria, Schiff strongly criticized the anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic rhetoric of conservative politicians there. After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, he also declared that he would refuse to perform in Russia.

Schiff is not the first musician to boycott performances in the United States since President Trump’s inauguration.

German renowned violinist Christian Tetzlaff also announced that he would suspend performances in the United States, expressing concerns about President Trump’s closeness to Russia.