Tenor Lawrence Brownlee's Moscow cancellation is good risk management

(Santa Fe, NM) - Getting right to it, I’m relieved that lauded American tenor Lawrence Brownlee cancelled his concert at Moscow’s state-run Zaryadye Hall.

From Operawire’s 18AUG breaking story, I pondered Brownlee’s statement: “…as an artist, I believe that my art is the most powerful way for me to create positive change in the world. My decision to sing in Russia is not in any way an endorsement of the policies of their current government, just as my decision to continue to sing in the U.S. is not an endorsement of our current government. For me, the greatest power of music is that it can lift us above the divisive rhetoric of present-day politics, and remind us of what truly unifies us in our shared human experience…”