Cello star has strings confiscated at airport
mainFrom Amit Peled:
I just performed with the Warsaw Philharmonic the Penderecki concerto last night for the Maestro’s 85th birthday celebration.
I wanted to let you know that for the first time in my life ALL strings were taken away from me right now (4:30 am) at the airport’s security checkpoint claiming that it is too dangerous to take them on board….
I have always carried an extra set of strings with me and was never asked to give them away!!! Well, at least they didn’t take the cello claiming that the endpin could be used to stab somebody… Or maybe the security guy is a cellist and wanted a free set…?
…thank goodness they didn’t take your belt, shoelaces or a pant leg. Those are infinitely stronger than any cello string.
Or the headphone cables. Those are nit too different from Cello strings.
You obviously have a fine ‘cello…
Where are you buying your shoelaces? I’ve never encountered steel wire shoelaces.
Dear Amit,
Now that you mentioned it, the next time they will take the endpin too, since you recognize that it can be used to stab someone…
I already had the endpin taken away. September 2001…
The Warsaw Airport is a problem. Many poorly-trained arrogant employees who may never have seen a school from the inside.
A set of cello strings can cost a couple hundred bucks. Real ground staff stupidity at work.
Such a stabbing did take place, but in a TV series called “OZ”
Start the video at 0:45
https://www.sfcv.org/events-calendar/artist-spotlight/zuill-bailey-cellist-extraordinaire-and-murderer
next goes the neck. As a violin maker I can confirm that you can beat someone down pretty well with the fingerboard alone.
Amit Peled – master of cello and the garotte!
At least you and your precious cello are safe.
If they took them away they should have had them for you at your destination.
I do know of an oboe player who flew from LA to Chicago a few years after 9-11 who did not have her reed knife confiscated … go figure!
A flute in its case looks like a pipe bomb on the x-ray scanner. I used to have to open the case with regularity in the 80’s and 90’s to prove it was not a bomb, but never once after 9/11. Go figure.
Sadly, some also sound like a pipe bomb – no names…
Oh spiffing! Real Monty Python sketch material. They are sick, they ought to be tarred and feathered.
Unfortunately with terrorism and stabbings clear strings can garrot/strangle – try understanding versus pouting and mocking
Don’t forget these were only his spare strings. Personally I keep my garotte wound around the A peg, which is a perfect disguise for airport security. It doesn’t sound great in Brahms double, but with Penderecki you hardly notice a thing
A suitable piece of monofilament nylon could be woven through a piece of clothing, bag frame, etc. and would not be apparent to most security screeners. Or a paracord bracelet. But to what point? It’s not a practical weapon against an adversary who can see you coming, and you’re not going to get the cockpit door open. You could batter someone to death with a roll of coins knotted in a sleeve from a long-sleeved shirt, too. Same result: you disable or maybe kill one flight crew member or passenger, and the rest of them return the favor to you.
There’s a very simple remedy for all these threats – harness and lock every passenger into their seat!
Just pack them in a little tighter (like sardines in a can) and you can skip the seats and harnesses!
This happened a number of years ago to a cellist coming to solo with my husband’s orchestra; this is the only other occurrence I’ve heard of. Clearly, both that gate agent and this one had seen a few too many Godfather movies!
Unbelievable! Hope your cello and you are now safe ❤️
Stunningly ignorant.
Did you mention the endpin? Oh no. Now I have to go out to shop for a spare.
Bassoonist, beware! I’ve published a crime novel where the murder is done with the twine used to hold reeds together. So be careful when you come to an airport with your reeds and a repair set. 😉