“International travel can be daunting for anyone. Now imagine taking more than 100 musicians halfway across the globe,” reports Andrea Shea on Tuesday (10/31) at Boston radio station WBUR. “That’s the reality this week for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which is embarking on a four-city, six-concert tour in Japan…. It’s [BSO stage manager John] Demick’s job to make sure every instrument and piece of equipment needed in Nagoya, Osaka, Kawasaki and Tokyo gets where it needs to go…. In all, 163 pieces of specialized luggage will make the trip to Asia. ‘We travel with about 27,000 pounds of gear,’ Demick told me, ‘the valuation of which is somewhere around $20 million.’ … Big instruments are just one of the many logistical challenges. Demick also points to increased restrictions for some older instruments that have parts made from endangered species.… According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the BSO must document any affected instruments, which could be inspected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service along the way. Often these pieces are replaced before going abroad.” The first concert of the tour takes place in Nagoya on Friday.
Posted November 2, 2017
Pictured: Boston Symphony Orchestra violinist Bonnie Bewick and violist Michael Zaretsky before the BSO heads out on tour to Japan. (Andrea Shea/WBUR)
