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Serbian cellist Maja Bogdanović had a brush with the law when passing through Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Her bag triggered a red alert at security and within seconds she was surrounded by five policemen.
The suspicious item? Her foot pedal.
“I even said to them, ‘I know it looks like a detonator, but it’s just a foot pedal,’” she recalled. “But that only made things worse. They asked, how do you know it looks like a detonator? I answered that another security officer at another airport (years ago) had told me that. People nearby started backing away as if I were dangerous. Even though you know you’ve done nothing wrong, it’s such an awkward, uncomfortable feeling.”
The officers remained polite but persistent, at one point dutifully writing down “FOOD PEDAL” in their notes. After some Googling and explanations about FOOT PEDALS, Bogdanović was allowed to continue her journey.
She was en route to Odense, Denmark, where she performs Shostakovich’ Cello Concerto No. 1 this week with the Odense Symphony Orchestra.
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