"Festival organizers late on Wednesday announced that the Munich Philharmonic would no longer perform on September 18 as planned, saying they were concerned about conductor Lahav Shani's attitude to the Israeli government. Shani, who is to officially take over as conductor of the orchestra for the 2026/27 season, currently serves as music director of the Israel Philharmonic. In a statement, the organizers said they were "unable to provide sufficient clarity about his attitude" towards the Israeli government, which is currently waging a war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, triggering a humanitarian crisis in the territory."
""We have chosen to refrain from collaboration with partners who have not distanced themselves unequivocally from that regime," the organizers said, though they noted that Shani had "spoken out in favor of peace and reconciliation several times in the past." In March 2022, the orchestra itself dropped Russian maestro Valery Gergiev as its chief conductor after he failed to denounce Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The orchestra and the city of Munich also criticized the festival's move, calling it a collective punishment of Israeli artists and saying that excluding people from cultural venues because of their origin or religion was "an attack on fundamental European and democratic values.""
The Flanders Festival Ghent canceled the Munich Philharmonic's planned September 18 performance due to concerns about conductor Lahav Shani's stance toward the Israeli government. Lahav Shani is music director of the Israel Philharmonic and due to assume the Munich post in 2026/27. Organizers said they could not obtain sufficient clarity about his attitude and chose to avoid partners who had not unequivocally distanced themselves from that regime, while noting Shani has previously spoken in favor of peace and reconciliation. The Munich orchestra and the city of Munich condemned the cancellation as collective punishment and an attack on European democratic values.
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