More than 2,000 individuals in the music industry have signed a petition in support of a jazz musician and composer. The success of River to Sea in the 2025 Queensland Music Awards led the Brisbane city council to withdraw its funding for the annual event. Australian pianist Jayson Gillham, who is involved in a legal dispute with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, also issued a statement condemning Kellee Green’s case as another troubling example of the suppression of political expression by Australian artists. Green faced criticism after her political stance on the conflict in Gaza was questioned following her win at the state music awards. During her acceptance speech, she accused the Australian government of complicity in war crimes and stated that “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The Brisbane-based artist, who is also a teacher at a private Catholic girls’ school, took leave from the school and assured the school’s principal that she had not made any political statements to students. The lord mayor of Brisbane, Adrian Schrinner, pulled the council’s $25,000 funding for the awards, stating that music should bring people together, not tear them apart. The petition, launched by Taiwanese-Australian composer musician Matt Hsu, criticizes the “inflammatory” and “unfounded” claims by Schrinner and argues that QMusic is using the guise of neutrality to curb artists’ freedom of expression.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/mar/31/kellee-green-river-to-sea-composer-queensland-music-award-palestine-controversy-ntwnfb