A leading orchestra's directors were caught off guard by a "reputation shredding" decision to cancel a pianist's concert over his onstage comments about the war in Gaza, a court has been told.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra board member Martin Foley, who led Victoria's response to COVID-19 as state health minister before retiring from politics in 2022, gave evidence to Jayson Gillham's unfair dismissal case on Wednesday.
Gillham introduced a composition piece at an August 2024 concert by saying Israel deliberately targeted journalists to prevent the reporting of war crimes.
