A video of a conductor urging the public to listen to environmental activists who had just interrupted a concert made the rounds online over the weekend. The leader’s reaction in particular drew attention, in contrast to the often hostile attitude activists face when taking action in cultural venues.
The event took place on Friday at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland as part of a concert by the Bavarian State Orchestra. Two activists from the environmental group Renovate Switzerland first put their hands on the podium, where conductor Vladimir Jurowski stood facing the crowd and wearing T-shirts that read “Act now!”. (Trade now!).
The tactic of putting your hand to make it harder to let go is often used by activists when taking action in cultural venues, such as museums.
However, they are usually evacuated by security, but that didn’t happen on Friday. Instead, leader Vladimir Jurowski asked the crowd to listen to them, showing that they supported their action.
“We have an agreement. Now young people are talking, we all listen without interrupting them,” he said in German, adding that the symphony that was being played would continue after the speech and shaking hands with the two activists on stage.
When onlookers began to interrupt the activists, the leader even shouted at them: “Stop! “Let them talk,” he then threatened to leave the stage if they didn’t. He even sat down on the floor to continue listening to them.
According to the Lucerne Festival organization, the concert was ultimately interrupted for around 4 minutes.
This one did not show the same support for the gesture as the conductor. In a statement released on Saturday, she said she had “no understanding” of the way activists chose to get her message across. She describes the leader’s reaction as “calm and constructive” and says she didn’t evict the activists from the room to avoid making the situation worse.
Lucerne police said the activists could face legal consequences.
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