this is the time to be thankful about being a pianist...

Musicians Scramble to Cope
with Airport Restrictions
By Susan Elliott
MusicalAmerica.com
August 14, 2006


Security restrictions imposed on flights into and out of British airports are wreaking havoc everywhere, including the music industry. The Orchestra of St. Luke’s was forced to cancel its performances at the Edinburgh Festival and the Proms, on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, because of the ban on carry-on items. The Bolshoi Theater musicians, currently in London, are planning to get back to Russia by traveling by rail to Paris and flying from there. (Their instruments are “on loan” from the state; players are under contract not to check them.) A report on the Bolshoi musicians’ plight in BBC News prompts a string of responses, including one from cellist Stephen Isserlis, who is scheduled to premiere Wolfgang Rihm’s new concerto with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen Aug. 15 under Paavo Järvi. Isserlis writes, “I am a cellist. I am travelling to Germany tomorrow to rehearse for a premiere of a new cello concerto, written for me, at the Salzburg Festival on Tuesday. I cannot cancel, because no-one else has learnt this concerto; I cannot put my priceless 18-century Italian cello in the hold - it would not be insured in there (as far as I know) and besides, to risk the desecration of such an irreplaceable work of art would be irresponsible and wrong. So I am taking the train tomorrow - a 10-hour ride, as opposed to the one-hour flight.”

Numerous other musicians (bagpipe players have been having a tough time all along), photographers, computer specialists, etc. cite similar tales of woe.

A security guard who declines to give her last name responds,“I am a security guard at Heathrow. If you don't like it, don't fly. This is happening for a reason and you're quick to forget it. If we were not doing this and a bomb did get on a plane, you would be quick to complain that nothing was being done about it. Get real, there is more to life than music.”

Meanwhile, as of about 8:30 a.m. EST today, British authorities eased restrictions on carry-on baggage somewhat and are allowing passengers to take one item measuring no more than 45 cm X 35 cm X 16 cm [17.72” by 13.78” by 5.91”] on board. Not all airlines have followed suit as yet, but most are expected to within the next 24 hours. Over a third of flights out of Heathrow International Airport have been cancelled, due to long delays going through security checkpoints.

While the carry-on news may sound good to certain wind players – flute, clarinet and oboe – most other instruments still are required to be checked in the luggage hold, a prospect most musicians avoid at all costs.