Why Being Stuck On A Tarmac With The Philly Orchestra Rocks

[OneGrassRoot]

MORE UPLIFTING POSTS IN GOOD NEWS

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There are few things as annoying as being stuck on a tarmac — in a cramped, packed plane — for long periods of time. But when you have some of the members of the Philadelphia Orchestra on your flight, it could turn magical.

No, seriously.

It happened to passengers on a flight from Beijing to Macau, this week. They had been sitting on the tarmac for three hours when a quartet of musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra pulled out their instruments and provided what they called on YouTube a "pop up" performance.

The orchestra published video of the performance today:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/07/189544736/why-being-stuck-on-a-tarmac-with-the-philly-orchestra-rocks

[FarCenter]

1. Fiddles on a plane!!!

[Dustlawyer]

12. What would have been a site to see would have been fiddlers on the Roof of the plane!

[orpupilofnature57]

2. We used too call that a " Happening " Coooool .

[BeyondGeography]

3. So cool

Thanks for posting.

[geckosfeet]

4. !!! Wonderful - thanks so much for posting!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. Good thing this was captioned because at 3:19 I would have thought this was...

... some kind of "Titanic" moment.

Pretty fucking cool.

[OneGrassRoot]

8. Ha!

[heaven05]

10. yeah

with your intro, I did, at 3:19, laugh very loud.

[treestar]

6. Pretty awesome

[Lasher]

7. I was once on a commercial flight with Senator Byrd.

He had his fiddle with him, so I asked him to play us a tune. He said he he couldn't because he didn't have his bow with him, but I think he just wasn't in the mood. Not long after that he gave up fiddle playing for good.

[Le Taz Hot]

9. I'm sitting here in my jammies,

having my first cup of coffee and my husband can't figure out why I'm clapping at the screen. LOL! What a cool thing to have happen! 'Course, they're lucky it was strings and not brass.

[MadrasT]

11. K&R - what a nice thing to start a weekend with.

I live near Philly and go to see the Orchestra regularly. They are fantastic.

Thanks!

[BlueCollar]

13. Too cool... how

do you check a cello into the main cabin?

[longship]

14. I have have a friend who plays cello in the NY Phil.

His cello is priceless. He buys a ticket for it and it rides in the seat next to him.

I think that would be SOP for cellists.

[Travis_0004]

27. I was wondering the same thing.

I realize that those instruments can be expensive, so I can see why somebody would do that.

I remember reading a story a few years back of somebody who left a stradivarius (worth 4 million), in the back seat of a taxi.

[ColumbusLib]

15. You buy the cello its own seat

Seriously! I am a flutist so can carry on my flute, but my cello friends sometimes have to buy an extra seat - unless they are willing to entrust it to checked baggage, which can be disastrous.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. They all knew that by heart

because I didn't see anyone holding the music, turn a page, and there were pages and pages of notes played with that allegro/vivace playing!

Bravo to those members of my hometown orchestra!

[OldHippieChick]

19. You must have watched a different video

As I see someone holding music for all of them. Might want to look a little more closely. It's still a wonderful performance - on a plane no less - and using music does not detract from the generosity of their gift to fellow passengers.

[BumRushDaShow]

24. For fuck's sake. Did you read what I wrote?

I will rephrase - the people who were holding the music didn't turn any pages while they were holding the selection. I was watching them too as I listened to the performance. Performers who have rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed enough pretty much know the music by heart.

And as I noted, since you didn't read, they are from my hometown orchestra.

[Skeeter Barnes]

26. Page turned at 3:12

for fucks sake.

[OldHippieChick]

29. Yes dearie I read what you wrote

specifically that you saw no one "holding" any music. Truly don't understand why you felt it necessary to swear, but ... perhaps a vocabulary is the next thing you might explore.

[kestrel91316]

17. They would NEVER be permitted to do this in the US.

Major violation of all manner of post-911 Homeland Security regulations, I'm sure.

[TinkerTot55]

18. Wonderful impromptu concert.

Undoubtedly all deboarding passengers were then changed an additional $100 entertainment fee.

[frazzled]

20. Bravo!

If I'm ever stuck on a plane, I'd love to have these musicians--or any others--aboard to entertain us!

Oddly, I just heard a performance of the Dvorak American the other week, with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing with Yo-yo Ma. The Philadelphia players picked the perfect piece to represent the generosity and genius of our country.

[JayhawkSD]

23. I was thinking the same thing. Nice selection. n/t

[asjr]

21. Now I can welcome the rest of the day. Thanks!

[SpankMe]

22. This kind of thing never happens to me.

When I get stuck on a plane I usually have to listen a kid having a screaming fit while the other passengers wax indignant about they're going to write letters to the airline and get their money back. The flight attendants turn in to a group of raging disciplinarian assholes, and I suddenly get my once-a-year case of "the farts" where I nearly fall ill trying to hold them back.

Do I ever get the Philly Orchestra - or even a hippie with a guitar? Nope.

[dmr]

25. That was wonderful!

I'm glad I opened this very enjoyable thread.

[A HERETIC I AM]

28. Neat!