German violinist Christian Tetzlaff has announced he is withdrawing from his upcoming tour of the US with the Tetzlaff Quartet, in protest over the actions of the Trump administration.
“There seems to be a quietness or denial about what’s going on,” Tetzlaff said, speaking to the New York Times. “I felt like a child watching a horror film.”
“I feel utter anger. I cannot go on with this feeling inside. I cannot just go and play a tour of beautiful concerts,” he added.
Tetzlaff is one of the first artists to enter into a cultural boycott of the US in Trump’s second term as president.
In a statement on social media, Tetzlaff expanded: “It is very easy to see that the current administration has only one value as moral guidance – and this value is money. This must lead into catastrophe”.
Originally planning an eight-city tour with the Tetzlaff Quartet, including an appearance at Carnegie Hall, Tetzlaff added that other musicians should use their influence where they can. “Please, everybody who can, speak openly, even in concerts, about the worth of tolerance, support of the weakest and compassion – this is what makes America great again.”
Approached for comment by the New York Times, White House spokesman Harrison W Fields offered this response to Tetzlaff’s boycott: “America first.”
