In Monday’s (8/29) Philadelphia Inquirer, David Patrick Stearns writes, “The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra are bound to have ships-that-pass-in-the-night moments on their tours of European festivals, and the first was at the Zurich Airport on Sunday morning: The Chicagoans were emerging from the arrivals section of the airport while the Philadelphians were two levels up, going through security and passport control. The Chicagoans were in transit to Lucerne from Salzburg, Austria, and the Philadelphians were shipping out from Lucerne to Dublin, Ireland, using the same buses and Air Berlin chartered airplane. Anticipating the near-miss, the Philadelphians wrote notes to their Chicago friends—’Best wishes,’ ‘Have a nice tour’—while on the bus between Lucerne and Zurich. … Half an hour later, when the Philadelphians boarded their flight, sure enough, posted notes from the Chicagoans were everywhere (including one in Hebrew for principal trombonist Nitzan Haroz, who is from Israel). … There will be another almost-encounter in Dresden, Germany, where the ensembles will come within 24 hours of each other: The Philadelphians are to leave Saturday morning, and the Chicagoans are to arrive at the same hotel in the afternoon.”
Posted August 29, 2011
