Violinist Pekka Kuusisto Cancels All US Engagements, Citing Political and Ethical Concerns

Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto has announced he is stepping away from work in the United States, pointing to ethical objections to the current US administration and to tax rules that apply to foreign performers.

Kuusisto shared the decision in a video posted to Instagram, explaining that he had reached it several months earlier but held off on a public announcement so that the American presenters on his calendar would have time to revise their programming. He has already notified the institutions he was scheduled to work with so they can line up alternatives.

"In a nutshell, I support equal human rights. I support peace and obviously that creates a dissonance between myself and the current US administration," Kuusisto said.

He also raised the 30 percent federal withholding tax levied on non-resident performers' US earnings, saying it troubled him that contributions from orchestra donors and arts patrons would, in effect, help fund policies he opposes at home and abroad. He described those policies as "performative cruelty" and said he wanted no part in financing them.

Kuusisto stressed that the choice was his alone and that he was not urging colleagues, American or otherwise, to follow suit. He acknowledged that his circumstances make walking away from US engagements financially feasible in a way it would not be for many artists, and said he was prepared to live with the consequences should that change.

The violinist, who has appeared regularly with American orchestras for decades, also had a message for the administrators who run them, encouraging them to speak up and suggesting that a unified stance from the arts community could help shift the situation more quickly.