BSO cellist denied entry to UK to perform free concert with chamber group
While we're all busy obsessing over aggressive pat downs (a.k.a. gropings) at American airports, consider another kind of hassle experienced by Kristin Ostling, a cellist with the Baltimore Symphony.
Ostling is on leave from the BSO this season and, among other pursuits away from her pals at Meyerhoff Hall, expected to play a free gig at the University of Leeds in England with the Carpe Diem Quartet. But last weekend, she didn't make it past UK Border Agency officials at Heathrow.
The Guardian's Tom Service reports that Ostling
was questioned for eight hours by officials at Terminal 3 ... refused entry to the country, forced to sign written statements, and sent back on a plane to Chicago. The reason? Her performance at the University of Leeds ... for which she was receiving no fee, and no expenses, either, was deemed to be 'work', and she was therefore not allowed in on her visa. The extraordinary thing is that
Seems as if the university over there was supposed to first check around the UK and EU countries to see if another quartet would do the gig for free, before even asking the Americans. Bizarre.
Here's hoping that Tom Service's blog post about the odd incident will lead to some sort of corrective action.
PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN COLBERG
Comments
Eight hours of questioning? What could they possibly have spent eight hours asking her? (Did they torture her as well?) Is the British government competing with ours for outrageous conduct? I hope that she writes about the experience, or, perhaps she'd give you an interview, Tim.
Posted by: Henry Cohen | November 20, 2010 6:49 AM
"Bizarre" is just about the best word for this.
With idiots like these stationed at the gates, who needs to worry about barbarians?
Posted by: Doug Halfen | November 20, 2010 9:36 AM
I conduct an orchestra which is based in the USA, but which frequently tours in Asia. One of our violinists - a Canadian citizen who lives in Vancouver - was denied entry to the US when she tried to bring her instrument into this country to attend rehearsals - we ended up flying her directly from Vancouver to China, where she joined her colleagues for the tour without benefit of rehearsal. Sorry Kristin had to put up with this ridiculous BS, but our government does the same thing....
Posted by: moblu1 | November 21, 2010 8:30 PM
This question may reveal the fact that I am not a musician, but would it be possible for a musician to leave his or her instrument home and borrow one at the place of performance? That way he could tell customs that he was entering as a tourist. Certainly, at least as in Ms. Ostling's case, where the performance was to be given for free, one should have no ethical qualms about this.
Posted by: Henry Cohen | November 22, 2010 12:10 PM