A conductor with The Protege Philharmonic walked out of a concert Sunday at the Chicago Cultural Center, saying his 1st Amendment rights were violated when center officials refused to let him hand out lyrics of his controversial composition.
Robert Ian Winstin, a guest composer and conductor with the teenage orchestra, left an hour before the scheduled performance of “When the Music’s Over,” a piece about schizophrenia victims and their bouts with suicide, drug abuse and alcohol. Winstin had planned to hand out his lyrics after the philharmonic’s music director refused to print them in the official program, calling them “inappropriate” for high school students.
“I find this to be a tremendous issue of censorship,” Winstin said after he left the concert hall. “I could not perform in such a restrictive and oppressive atmosphere. This is a clear violation of my 1st Amendment rights.”
Despite Winstin’s abrupt departure, the philharmonic’s 75 teenage musicians, gathered from across the Chicago region, performed to a standing-room-only hall. Joseph Glymph, the group’s music director who refused to print Winstin’s lyrics, conducted the performance without Winstin’s composition.
“This program is like a classroom for these students, and you cannot just walk into a classroom and say anything you want,” Glymph said.
Carolyn Aguilar, public programs administrator for the city-run cultural center, said Winstin was not allowed to hand out the lyrics because her group has a contract with Glymph, not Winstin.