Music

An opera about being stuck at the airport filmed at Seattle’s Museum of Flight

Like so many arts and cultural organizations, the Seattle Opera has gotten pretty darn creative with finding ways to bring its productions to the people.

The newest production is a great example of that and will be of interest to opera fans and avgeeks alike.

Courtesy Seattle Opera

For the 2020/2021 season, the Seattle Opera was planning to present a performance of “Flight.” The three-act opera was written in 1998 by composer Jonathan Dove and librettist April De Angelis and has been performed around the world.

Here’s the story of the opera:

An omniscient air traffic controller watches over a departure lounge bustling with relentlessly cheerful flight attendants, an excitable couple on vacation, a mysterious older woman, and a diplomat and his expectant wife, all of whom must spend the night to wait out a storm. At the heart of the show is the Refugee, a character inspired by Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who lived in Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris for almost 18 years.”

The pandemic means that the Seattle Opera can’t perform the show live. But rather than pass on the opportunity to present it, the Seattle Opera teamed up with Seattle’s Museum of Flight and filmed the opera there.

Brilliant, right?

The live stream of the Flight runs April 23-25. And tickets are just $35.

Below you’ll find a trailer for the opera and a pre-flight/pre-show talk full of tidbits on how the project came to be.

There’s also a fun interview with Museum of Flight curator Matthew Burchette sharing some of his favorite aircraft in the museum and talking about the control tower exhibit, which plays a role in the opera.

Enjoy!

Stuck at the Airport: SEA shares music. AUS presents podcasts.

Music Wall at SEA Airport

In a ‘normal’ year, we’d be going to airports all the time. And in many of those airports, there would be local musicians playing for us while we wait for our flights.

The pandemic means that in most airports, live music isn’t happening. And it also means the musicians who would have been playing at airports have lost those gigs. And the income from those gigs.

Pre-pandemic, for example, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) was programming live music 7 days a week in multiple places in the terminal. In 2020 and 2021, the schedule was being expanded, with more stages and more music.

While we wait for that programming to come back, SEA is doing what it can for the musicians. And for passengers who miss the music.

The airport has just installed a new 12X7-foot, high-resolution digital LED music wall on Concourse C that is showing a two-hour program highlighting more than 30 musicians who played at the airport before the pandemic.

Enjoy it here or in the airport. And tip the musicians if you can.

Podcasts from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

Fans of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) will want to start downloading and listening to the airport’s podcast series, The Austin Approach, which gives listeners “a look into all things AUS.”

Episodes will drop twice a month and feature interviews with airport staff, news and updates from around the airport, and insider stories about airport life.  The episodes are on the AUS website and available to stream on Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle Podcasts and PodBean.

One-on-one concerts at Stuttgart Airport

Even though few people are hanging out in airports right now, airports are still doing their part to be part of the cultural community.

A perfect example: Germany’s Stuttgart Airport (STR).

This week the airport is hosting several one-on-one concerts in an empty terminal.

On May 8 and 10 single musicians will perform personal concerts for single listeners who will be each be seated at a safe distance.

The idea takes inspiration from artist Marina Abramović’s performance “The Artist Is Present.” The concept is to provide a personal musical experience despite the restrictions being caused by the corona pandemic.

Stuttgart Airport is just one of the sites for the one-on-one concert project, which is the creation of the Stuttgart State Opera and the SWR Symphony Orchestra.

To attend one of the concerts in town, potential audience members apply for a slot. Then, musicians and lucky audience members are paired randomly.

Ten tickets for the concerts in the empty terminal are being offered via a contest on the airport’s website.

The musicians are performing for free, however donations are permitted.

Great idea, right?

23 airports hosting 1 big music festival May 6

Airports are really lonely and miss serving as the front doors to their cities.

So they’re working hard to stay in touch with their communities with updates on their Covid-19 responses, of course, but also with educational and cultural activities.

Case in point: 23 North American airports are joining together on Wednesday, May 6 to host the JetStream Music Festival.

The online event celebrates local music from each of the host cities and kicks off at 5 p.m. CST on May 6 on each of the participating airports’ Facebook Live.

Here’s how the JetStream Music Festival will work:

Each airport will feature a 10-minute set from a local musician.

Each musician will have a virtual tip jar so you can contribute during the stream.

Here’s the lineup:

  • Gina Chavez – Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) 
  • Don Hicks – Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
  • Eddy Fabrizio Castellanos – Jacksonville International Airport (JAX)
  • Jane Kramer – Asheville Regional Airport (AVL)
  • Chuck Courtenay – Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV)
  • Lauren Eylise – Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
  • Kendal Conrad – Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE)
  • Chill Moody – Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
  • Julian Taylor – Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
  • Honey & Blue – John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
  • Big Blitz – Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)
  • Key to Adam – Yeager Airport (CRW)
  • Zuriel Merek – Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL)
  • John Hayes – Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP)
  • The Honey Vines – Evansville Regional Airport (EVV)
  • Robin Barnes – Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)
  • Rhythm Kings – Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE)
  • Leah Leyva – Albuquerque International Airport (ABQ)
  • Patrick Contreras – Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT)
  • Tyler F. Simmons – John Wayne Airport (SNA)
  • Jordan Richard – Portland International Airport (PDX)
  • Nico Hueso – San Diego International Airport (SAN)
  • Tomo Nakayama – Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)

Stuck at the Airport: Music, masks and lots of lights

Very few people are flying right now, but airlines and airports are still in the news.

Masks – on the plane and in the airports

The list of airlines requiring crew members and passengers to wear masks, and the number of airports requiring anyone passing through to cover their mouth and nose keeps growing.

United Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, JetBlue and Lufthansa are among the airlines already doing it. More will do the same.

Many of these airlines are also requiring that passengers wear masks during check-in, boarding and deplaning. And because an increasing number of airports are and soon will be requiring anyone in their terminals to wear masks, it’s a fair bet that wearing masks in airports is already the ‘new normal.’

Virtual music festival hosted by 23 airports

On May 6, starting at 5 p.m. CST, 23 airports across North America will be hosting the JetStream Music Festival, an online celebration of local music.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, located in the “Live Music Capital of the World” will be the official host airport, but the 23 participating airports will each stream the festival on their respective Facebook Live pages and each will feature a local musician from their city. Viewers will be able to tip the performers during each set.

Participating airports include:

  • Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) – host 
  • Albuquerque International Airport (ABQ)
  • Asheville Regional Airport (AVL)
  • Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
  • Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL)
  • Evansville Regional Airport (EVV)
  • Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
  • Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT)
  • Jacksonville International Airport (JAX)
  • John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
  • John Wayne Airport (SNA)
  • Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE)
  • Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)
  • Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE)
  • Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP)
  • Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
  • Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)
  • Portland International Airport (PDX)
  • San Diego International Airport (SAN)
  • Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV)
  • Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
  • Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
  • Yeager Airport (CRW)

Airports lighting up

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Dulles International Airport, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and many other airports are lighting up their terminals in different colors to show their support for health care workers, first responders, front line workers, hospitality workers and airport and airline employees who are helping people get where they need to go.

Here’s SFO’s color-code and its upcoming lighting schedule.

  • First responders: red, white and blue (most Thursdays)
  • Front-line workers: gold (most Tuesdays)
  • Health care workers: blue (most Wednesdays)
  • Hospitality workers: purple (most Mondays)