Following the first violin performance in space on 13 September, Frances Borowsky entertains fellow passengers during a recent US flight
As rare as the occasion may be, it gives us great pleasure at The Strad to share stories about string players on planes that don’t involve damaged instruments, or issues with taking their instruments onboard.
In addition to unlocking the achievement of boarding a plane with her instrument (we assume without any traumatic interactions with airline staff), cellist Frances Borowsky has gone one further and given a performance of Bach on a Southwest Airlines flight.
Borowsky was travelling home to Baltimore from Omaha with her trio when the flight attendants asked if she would like to perform a piece.
‘I jumped at the chance! I’ve performed in 35 countries, but a mini-concert at 35,000 feet is a first for me,’ she said.
She performed the Prelude from Bach Suite no.1 for solo cello, in a small alcove: ‘Navigating the bowing was a bit tricky with the limited elbow room, but I did what I could.
‘I’m so grateful to the Southwest crew and all the passengers who listened. It was a truly unforgettable experience!’
Watch the in-flight performance here:
The performance was captured by Borowsky’s brother, Emmanuel Borowsky, a violinist who was kicked off a Southwest flight in 2018 for refusing to check in his violin, worth $80,000. He was delayed several hours, causing him to miss a day of professional engagements and received no compensation for his delay.
Borowsky and his violin have made it onboard for every Southwest flight he’s booked since the incident, with his sister claiming he is ‘a happy and proud Southwest customer.’
The high-altitude performance follows that of the first violin performance held in space on 13 September, where SpaceX engineer and astronaut Sarah Gillis performed ‘Rey’s Theme’ from Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Frances Borowsky is a graduate of Towson University, the Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University, Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany, and University of Maryland. She serves as co-director of the Intermuse Music Institute and Festival and has taught at Lebanon Valley College, Elizabethtown College the Community College of Baltimore County and maintains a private studio in Baltimore.
She has been musician-in-residence at the Oberlin Acoustics Workshop, apprenticed with luthiers across the US and recently opened her own shop, Grace Albert Strings.
Borowsky plays on a 2009 cello by Wolfgang Schnabl with a Tête-bêche hybrid bow by Gilles Nehr.
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