German concert cellist Alban Gerhardt has lost his prized bow at the hands, he claims, of U.S. airport security agents, according to the classical music blog Slipped Disc. In a statement Gerhardt wrote exclusively for Slipped Disc, the cellist said the wood of his Heinrich Knopf bow was snapped in two en route from Berlin via Washington, D.C., and Chicago to Madison, Wisconsin. Gerhardt alleged that Transportation Security Agency employees in Washington, D.C., opened his cello case - which Gerhardt had checked through to the luggage hold with cello and bow inside - removed the cello for inspection, in the process dislodging the bow from its mounting inside the case, returned the cello to the case and forced the case closed without securing the bow in its proper place. Gerhardt said the employees who opened his cello case left a "notice of baggage inspection" inside the case. Read more:
Jennifer Hambrick unites her extensive backgrounds in the arts and media and her deep roots in Columbus to bring inspiring music to central Ohio as Classical 101’s midday host. Jennifer performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago before earning a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.