Igor Stravinsky’s South Africa
Long before Sun City there was this kind of thing.
From Time Magazine, June 1, 1962:
Composer Igor Stravinsky was conducting the South African Broadcasting Corp.’s symphony orchestra [that’s the state broadcaster] in the first of five concerts for whites only (a sixth was reserved for blacks). Stravinsky had asked that seating be integrated, but the broadcasting authorities coldly refused. The maestro’s opinion: “Music takes precedence over politics. I don’t think about these things because it is outside my competence. I have so many other things to think about.”
h/t: Suren Pillay
