The Ukrainian community in the Canary Islands has begun to criticise the German conductor and pianist Justus Franz on social media. He has planned a series of evenings with his son in the south of Gran Canaria to promote the union between Ukraine and Russia, that is, for Russia to take over Ukraine. With utter cynicism, the musician said that culture knows no borders, no languages and no wars. Justus Franz is married to the violinist Ksenia Dubrovskaya, who is from Russia and has a 19-year-old son in that country. In Germany he has been banned for supporting Russia. Last August, the German musician conducted Sirius at the Great Summer Music Festival accompanied by the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and performed one of Mozart's most famous piano concertos: the Twentieth.
The management of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (SHMF) in Germany in 2023 suspended conductor and pianist Justus Franz, who is none other than its founder, from participating in the event. In June 2023, the German musician joined the jury of the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the festival management considered the ties with Russia unacceptable. "We discussed the founder's actions with him personally, not publicly. For many reasons it was impossible to invite Justus Franz. One of them is his activities in Russia," festival director Christian Kunt explained his decision. Franz did not agree with the fairness of his suspension and called it "cowardly." He also stated that he would not "go down on his knees" to ask to be invited. Franz founded the festival in Schleswig-Holstein in 1986.
The renowned German journalist Axel Brüggemann confessed in an interview with German public television that the news of Justus Franz's dismissal did not surprise him at all. "What I mean by this," Bruggeman sums up, "is not the fact that an old, failed musician has gone missing, but what it is. It is happening before our eyes. A whole network is being created. Culture is not an innocent victim, but an ideal place for dirty deeds, for establishing connections between culture, politics and business."
