Prior to my performance taking place, the local government’s so-called “sect expert” had demanded that it be canceled. In a rare defense by a German official of artistic and religious freedom, the Minister of Culture refused, on the grounds that my religion had nothing to do with my right to practice my art.

The concert sold out and went ahead. Soon afterwards, however, following severe criticism in the Bavarian parliament of the Culture Minister’s decision to let me perform, the State Minister-President of Bavaria intervened and ordered the festival organizer to ban me from any future concerts at a state-subsidized event. That ban remains in force today. As I have mentioned in the past, being banned from state-funded events is equivalent to being blacklisted in Germany since most of the music festivals there are state-subsidized.

Nonetheless, in spite of the drastic reduction in my ability to perform in Germany, I have refused to allow the German government to deny music lovers there the opportunity to hear my music and intervene between myself and my German fans. Thus, I have been able to arrange a very small number of private tours. For example, through the supportive efforts of the U.S. Government, I was able to perform in Berlin in 1998.

But despite the State Department’s encouragement and assistance, the German government is now attempting to sabotage my right to perform even at privately funded concerts, by threatening concert promoters and artists who dare to schedule a performance for me.

A recent incident illustrates these intimidation tactics: I had been due to perform a piano concerto with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonic in the state of Bremen this coming October. But it was not to be.

Continued

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