He has brought an ugliness in the world which hadn't been there

"Maybe it’s a drop in the ocean"

NY Times article: "Dismayed by Trump, the Star Pianist András Schiff Boycotts the U.S."  The headline "boycott" often makes me think of not purchasing stuff from a specific store.  This is a different kind of boycott -- Schiff refuses to take part in performing in the US because (as the last paragraph says so well) he doesn't think it's going to inspire other musicians, but just because he has to do it for his conscience.  He can't participate in and pretend that everything is okay.  I would guess that he's not trying to punish his audience, or hurt American concert halls financially.  He is just not going to participate and he's ready to talk about why.

I was original drawn originally to the article by the phrase in the blog title -- Trump "has brought an ugliness to the world."  It makes me think that you can bring beauty or caring into the world.

András Schiff, an eminent concert pianist who has boycotted strongman rule in Russia and his native Hungary, said on Wednesday that he would no longer perform in the United States because of concerns about President Trump’s “unbelievable bullying” on the world stage.

Mr. Schiff, 71, a towering figure in classical music, said he was alarmed by Mr. Trump’s admonishments of Ukraine; his expansionist threats about Canada, Greenland and Gaza; and his support for far-right politicians in Germany. Mr. Schiff, who was born to a Jewish family in Budapest that witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust, said that Mr. Trump’s calls for mass deportation reminded him painfully of efforts to expel Jews during World War II.

“He has brought an ugliness into this world which hadn’t been there,” Mr. Schiff said in a telephone interview this week from Hong Kong, where he is performing. “I just find it impossible to go along with what is happening.”

 

Mr. Schiff, revered for his interpretations of the music of Bach and Mozart, is the latest artist to boycott the United States because of Mr. Trump. Last month the German violinist Christian Tetzlaff announced he would no longer perform in the country, citing Mr. Trump’s embrace of Russia, among other concerns.

The small but growing cultural boycott is a jarring reversal. In the past, it was American performers who often canceled engagements overseas to protest war, autocracy and injustice. Now the United States is seen by some as a pariah.

The White House has appeared unconcerned by boycotts by foreign artists, saying Mr. Trump’s priority is the United States.

Stephen Duncombe, a professor of media and culture at New York University, said it was not surprising that performers were shunning the United States because, he said, it is “lurching away from democracy.” He noted that these artists follow a long tradition. Pablo Picasso, for example, refused to have his “Guernica” displayed in Spain until it embraced democratic rule.

Ultimately, Mr. Schiff said, he could no longer appear in a country whose politics he so viscerally disagreed with. “The general election shows that a substantial part of people support these viewpoints and actions,” he said.

Mr. Schiff said that he did not expect his boycott would have much of an impact, but that it was important to speak up.

“Maybe it’s a drop in the ocean; I’m not expecting many musicians to follow,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter. It’s for my own conscience. In history, one has to react or not to react.”