Alban Gerhardt slams behaviour of officials at Dulles International Airport
A rare Heinrich Knopf bow belonging to Alban Gerhardt was
damaged by security officers as he entered the US. In what the
cellist called ‘an act of brutal and careless behaviour’, the bow
stick (right) was snapped in two, over the bridge of the cello, by
air security staff at Washington Dulles International Airport as
they examined the case’s contents.
According to Gerhardt, ‘The bow must have somehow moved halfway out
of its cover (the tip was still in the cover), and when it was
halfway out, [Transportation Security Administration workers]
forced the case shut and the bow broke.’ He discovered the damage
when he arrived at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, and
reclaimed the case. The incident occurred on 6 February, a day
before Gerhardt was due to perform Prokofiev’s Symphony–Concerto
with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in Madison, Wisconsin.
Gerhardt had also brought a Baroque bow in the case, for a
subsequent concert in New York, but for the Prokofiev he was
obliged to borrow a bow from Uri Vardi, a cellist and teacher at
the University of Wisconsin School of Music.
Photo: courtesy Alban Gerhardt
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