The world renowned Danish String Quartet has returned to the United States for the start of their seven-city tour -- including a teaching residency at the University of California Berkeley -- but the journey wasn't exactly without incident. The group let their Facebook fans know that violist Asbjørn Nørgaard had anything but a pleasant flight on Norwegian yesterday as the airline staff forced him to carry his instrument in his lap after refusing to allow him to place in the overhead storage per their policy.
According to The Strad, the ensemble quickly took to Facebook to let their followers and the airline know that they were not at all happy with their experience with flying Norwegian:
Asbjørn struggling to find space for his viola case between his legs as he is not allowed to put it in the overhead...
Posted by The Danish String Quartet on Wednesday, February 10, 2016
"Airline staff suggested that the musician find room for his viola between his legs after refusing to place the item in the overhead lockers.
"The awkward arrangement came despite a change to the airline's hand baggage rules to allow violins and violas inside the cabin in response to widespread criticism from musicians."
Thankfully the nasty snafu won't affect the start of the Danish String Quartet's spring tour of the east and west coasts set to begin in North Carolina this weekend.
Dates for the Danish String Quartet's U.S. tour are as follows:
February 13, at Duke University in Durham, NC
February 14, at The Fine Arts Center for Kershaw County in Camden, SC
February 16, at Buffalo Chamber Music Society in Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, NY
February 19, at Moravian College's Foy Hall in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
February 21, at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall in NYC
February 28, at UC Berkeley in Hertz Concert Hall in Berkeley, CA
March 1, at UC Santa Barbara in Hahn Hall in Santa Barbara, CA
April 6 through 8, at the Savannah Music Festival in Savannah, GA
For your tickets to see the Danish String Quartet in concert be sure to head over to their official website.
