The pianist from the audience at La La Land in Concert was a global feelgood story – but all was not what it seemed

When an audience member stepped in for a pianist at a Sydney performance of La La Land in Concert last month it made global headlines.

During the intermission of the concert at Darling Harbour Theatre on 30 May, the two-time Oscar-winning composer and conductor Justin Hurwitz appealed to the 2,000-strong crowd for an “amazing sight-reader”, saying one of his two keyboardists had fallen ill.

But now two musicians who were part of the orchestra have given a different version of events, saying the keyboardist left after tension between Hurwitz and the orchestra during rehearsals on the day of the performance.

One told the Guardian the audience member stepping forward may have been “a nice sort of feelgood kind of moment” but it did not reflect the mood behind the scenes.

One source claimed the percussion and keyboard sections of the orchestra had been singled out for what they felt was unreasonable treatment by Hurwitz, who allegedly remarked that Australia must have different musical notation than the rest of the world.

The other said they felt he had poor communication with the orchestra and was “just expecting everything was going to be 100%, which is never the case for a rehearsal”.

“That’s where you work on things, that’s the point of a rehearsal.”

One of the musicians felt George Ellis, who contracted the musicians that formed the scratch orchestra for the La La Land concerts, was also critical of both keyboardists less than an hour before the concert was due to begin.

At one point he allegedly told them to play a section again “without the wrong notes”.

“What are you doing? What are you going to do tonight?” Ellis allegedly said.

Both musicians the Guardian spoke to described the backstage scramble on mobile phones during the extended intermission to find a replacement keyboardist, saying no one among the orchestra appeared to be willing or able to volunteer.

A 21-year-old university student, Sterling Nasa, stepped forward from the crowd and took his place on stage.

Guardian Australia has been unable to reach Nasa for comment.

The Guardian is aware that at least nine of the musicians who played in the Sydney concerts are now helping the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) with a workplace inquiry about the events surrounding the performance.

“We are aware of the allegations and are supporting our members throughout the investigation process,” the MEAA said.

“All arts and entertainment venues and production companies are expected to adhere to minimum workplace safety and employment standards.”

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Both musicians said they stood in solidarity with the keyboardist who did not appear after the interval, and were angry that the incident had been turned into a good news story that went global.

“There’s a bunch of musicians out there who are just so pissed off,” one said.

“[It’s been turned] into this massive marketing event that went global, that’s the thing … that’s what people are pissed off about.”

In an interview with Guardian Australia before the musicians came forward, Hurwitz did not refer to any issue with the keyboardist who allegedly walked out.

Explaining why he made the decision to appeal to the audience, he said: “We had people saying, ‘OK, I have a friend who’s 15 minutes away, I have a friend who’s 12 minutes away.’ But I figured that nobody’s as close as they say they are. And also, by the time they would have gotten into the building and gotten settled, it would have been probably a minimum of 20 minutes … so I thought that was just too long. I just thought, well, we have 2,500 people here. Somebody has to know, you know? I just figured somebody would be a great sight-reader, so I decided to ask the audience.”

After the Sydney performance, Hurwitz returned to Los Angeles. Guardian Australia contacted his management, Creative Artists Agency, and Ellis to give them an opportunity to respond to the musicians’ claims but received no response.

A spokesperson for the Australian tour promoter, DRW Entertainment, said there had “of course” been “controlled chaos” when “a key member of the team was unable to perform after interval”.

“Live performances are always high pressure but fortunately we work with many of Australia’s most talented and passionate artists who live by the motto that the show must go on.”

DRW Entertainment did not respond to claims that the pianist had walked out.

“Out of respect for the artist’s privacy, it wouldn’t have been appropriate to share further details about their wellbeing with the audience on the night, or now,” the statement said.