Nigel Kennedy has been ousted from the Classical Brits award ceremony.
The maverick violinist, 51, who lashed out at the showpiece musical event for
being run by "old farts", was one of the biggest draws of the televised
ceremony.
He said event organisers had tried to "dictate" his "musical decisions" and
vetoed his plans to play with the Bond string quartet.
Kennedy, 51, said he originally planned to perform Mozart or Beethoven but
was told by organisers that his performance must last around the same length as
a pop song. When he suggested playing jazz instead, he said the idea was also
rejected.
He eventually settled on a gypsy violin piece Czardas, by Vittorio Monti. But
organisers vetoed his plans when the famous violinist said he wanted to perform
with the Bond string quartet rather than the Brits orchestra.
Kennedy's manager Terri Robson said the Bond quartet were rejected because
they had not been through the committee voting process. She said Kennedy was
"baffled" and "dumbfounded" by the decision, which came after two days of
rehearsals with the British/Australian quartet.
She said Kennedy had not pulled out of the event at the Royal Albert Hall,
adding: "If he is not allowed to play with people he wants to play with he can't
play. I can't think of any other musician who would accept being told who to
play with. He has been prevented from playing."
Kennedy said: "I have just found out that I have been prevented from
performing in the Classical Brits awards show. I was looking forward to this
because the quartet Bond had agreed to perform the gypsy song Czardas with me,
and having just finished rehearsing, it had become clear that this was going to
be one of my best performances of that music, not just musically but as a visual
TV spectacle as well.
"However, the Classical Brits committee have had other ideas. The Brits
committee have correctly identified Bond as a 'star' band who they didn't elect
to play and, because they didn't choose Bond as a committee, we are not allowed
to present our version of Czardas on the show.
"Seeing that the words 'music business' still place the word 'music' first, I
am not going to let some old farts dictate my musical decisions."