Written by Laurie Niles
Published: June 4, 2014 at 7:22 PM [UTC]
According to the New York Times, the orchestra had documentation for each bow, with photographs and letters from bow makers stating that they contained no banned ivory, said the orchestra's director, Stefan Englert. On Tuesday the bows were returned and sent back, after the orchestra showed the documentation and paid a total of $525 in fines and fees.
Obviously this situation, with its unpredictable outcomes even when an orchestra has obtained necessary documents, is untenable for traveling musicians.
What can we do?
Here is one step that many of us can take: American citizens can lobby their representatives in Congress with the help of an E-Advocacy page set up by the The League of American Orchestras. (Thank you to bowmaker Matt Wehling for pointing us to this page.)
Here is the link to that page.
This gives a template for a letter, but it also allows citizens to customize the letter with their own concerns. Among possible concerns:
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