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Rotterdam, 1 March 2022 – The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the board of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Festivals (organiser of the Gergiev Festival) have taken the decision to terminate their relationship with Valery Gergiev with immediate effect.
Following last week’s invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Valery Gergiev was invited to respond and to publicly distance himself from the acts of President Putin in Ukraine. In anticipation of any response, we had suspended our relationship with the conductor as indicated in a press release dated last Friday.
Yesterday evening we were able to contact Mr Gergiev. However, at the end of this conversation insurmountable differences remained. The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Festivals therefore consider they have no choice but to terminate their relationship with the conductor. Concerts with Mr Gergiev will be cancelled, likewise the NTR Saturday Matinee. The Gergiev Festival will also be disbanded.
This action ends a very close relationship between the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Valery Gergiev stretching back to 1988. Although, from an artistic perspective, bringing an end to this relationship has been a painful decision, neither organisation can see any other way forward. We are currently looking into alternatives for programmes already scheduled.
