Chen received the unusual item following a performance of the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
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Performing artists are perhaps used to receiving certain items after a show - be it a bouquet of flowers, a fancy bottle of alcohol, plenty of whoops and cheers - or in the case of bad actors in Shakespeare’s time, rotten tomatoes…
Star violinist Ray Chen received an unusual item after performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto on 17 January at the Hercules Hall in Munich, while on tour with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) and conductor Thomas Søndergård. During the applause, an audience member threw a black bra (with a treble clef hand stitched on one of the cups) from the upper gallery, which landed in the first violin section.
The bra was retrieved by giggling members of the violin section and given to Chen, who couldn’t hide his surprise.
’I just got thrown my first bra,’ he said on social media. ’If only I could tell my 13-year-old self: If you practise hard enough and sound good, people will throw themselves (and their underwear) at you.’
‘Classical music isn’t getting older after all!,’ he told The Strad.
The incident has invited a wave of amusement from Chen’s fans.
’I can’t speak to back in the day, but this is probably very rare to be thrown a bra as a principal violin player, you are a king among men,’ said one commenter. ’That’s a true rock star achievement sign,’ ’Classical Rock Star!’ and ’Loving the energy of the new classical audience! Get it Ray!,’ were some of the hundreds of comments on Chen’s post.
In a tour blog post for the RSNO, violinist Ursula Heidecker Allen wondered what would happen in the days to come on the tour. ’It caused huge hilarity on stage once we realised what it was…What on earth will be next, we wonder!?’
Watch: Violinist Ray Chen’s string snaps mid-performance
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