Is that a bow? or are you happy to see me?

Great news for musicians who travel frequently:

Exemption Approved for Travel with Bows
June 15, 2007, Washington, D.C. – Orchestras and individual musicians touring internationally may continue to travel with their bows, after winning an exemption during negotiations at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The international community met over the past two weeks to determine whether to include the Brazilian pernambuco tree on the endangered species list. Most fine bows used by string musicians are made from pernambuco wood. Negotiators settled on adding the tree to the endangered species list, but applying the listing only to “logs, sawn wood, veneer sheets…,” specifying that finished bows that are transported internationally would not be subject to cumbersome CITES permit and certification requirements.

Testify

So I've been impressed and a little overwhelmed by the American Symphony Orchestra League's new email bulletins. They are chock full of information, and I never knew how much I wanted to attend their events and activities.

The latest one though had me laughing.


Putting a violist in front of Congress for a testimonial just makes me laugh. Really. Nothing personal about the violist that they have picked, it's the instrument, and the words, testify. Call it "Classical Junior High Humor" - the equivalent of fart jokes.


Think about it...


Imagine a distinguished senator from New York asking about the practice habits of violists.


Or the schtick one could lambast a senator from Massachusetts when he saw Cynthia Phelps (above, left) or her stand partner Rebecca Young (right). [Grant you that IS the sexiest and most musical pairing I know of in any orchestra!]


So while arts funding is quite serious and I think the A.S.O.L. and the Americans for the Arts are doing a bang up job, it was ripe for me to have a giggle. And we all need that now and then!