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Travel with Instruments

Orchestra musicians traveling with instruments are subject to airline rules, Transportation Security Administration Requirements, and international customs endangered species rules.

In the links below, the League provides tips to help orchestra musicians navigate aviation rules, and important information about traveling with instruments made of protected species.

Endangered Species Material Read article

Travel with Instruments

Endangered Species Material

It is not uncommon for professional orchestra musicians, particularly string players, to perform with instruments that contain small amounts of ivory, tortoise shell, rosewood, and other species that are protected by domestic and international import/export restrictions. A great many of these musical instruments, while legally manufactured and purchased, are highly regulated and subject to very …
Endangered Species Material READ MORE

Travel with Instruments

Aviation Policy

When musicians travel, it is essential that musical instruments reach the final destination safely. The League advocates for uniform, reasonable, and reliable aviation policies that accommodate musical instruments as carry-on baggage or as properly handled checked items.

Advocacy

Artists from Abroad: Overview of Visa and Tax Essentials Webinar

The webinar walks you through the new features of the site while Jonathan and Robyn share their top tips for approaching the visa and tax procedures. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the newly revised site or how to engage foreign guest artists, this webinar is a great introduction.
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News: Travel with Instruments

  • Advocacy

    November 28, 2022

    Global Negotiations Support Musical Instruments and Pernambuco Conservation

    Improvements for the movement of musical instruments across borders and new support for the conservation of Pernambuco wood won approval at the conclusion of two weeks of global negotiations in Panama City, Panama.

  • Advocacy

    November 21, 2022

    Post-Election Update and Peek at 2023

    In This Issue: Short-term Priorities for Year-End Legislating, Prepare for 2023 and Beyond, and Odds and Ends

  • Advocacy

    November 7, 2022

    Global Action on Musical Instruments Begins Next Week

    The League is partnering with international stakeholders to represent the music sector in policy conversations that will determine future rules for travel and trade with musical instruments made with material subject to endangered species protections.

  • Advocacy

    September 27, 2022

    Autumn Advocacy Action

    In This Issue: Activate New Voter Engagement Resources; Shuttered Venues Grant Program Enters Closeout Process; Talks Accelerate on New Rules for Musical Instruments; Engaging Artists from Abroad

  • Travel with Instruments

    July 19, 2022

    Imperiled Pernambuco

    An endangered tree casts a shadow over bow makers and musicians worldwide.

  • Advocacy

    July 1, 2022

    Sizzling Summer Policy Updates

    In This Issue: NEA and Arts Education Funds Increase for Fiscal Year 2022; Continued Calls for Relief as Research Charts COVID-19's Impact on the Arts; League Speaks Up on Travel with Musical Instruments; Charitable Giving and Nonprofit Sector Take the Spotlight in Senate Hearing

  • Advocacy

    March 23, 2022

    Signs of Spring: Cherry Blossoms and D.C. Policy Updates

    In This Issue: NEA and Arts Education Funds Increase for Fiscal Year 2022; Continued Calls for Relief as Research Charts COVID-19's Impact on the Arts; League Speaks Up on Travel with Musical Instruments; Charitable Giving and Nonprofit Sector Take the Spotlight in Senate Hearing

  • Travel with Instruments

    August 28, 2019

    Travel with Instruments Update

    Following three years of consensus-building among music stakeholders, governmental authorities, and conservation experts, policy requests put forward by the League of American Orchestras (the League) and partners in the international music community gained approval today at the gathering of 183 parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), where musical instruments in use by musicians across the globe were on the agenda August 17 through 29, alongside urgent new policies shaped to address threats to plant and animal species worldwide.

  • Travel with Instruments

    October 24, 2016

    CITES Treaty Negotiations Include Musical Instrument Policies

    The League of American Orchestras was a voice for the music community in what is being called “game changing” treaty negotiations over international protected species rules. The 17th conference of the parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was the largest event in the treaty’s more than 40-year history, and the array of issues under consideration included two key areas that will impact the rules for musical instruments that cross borders among the 183 party countries.

  • Travel with Instruments

    February 6, 2012

    Success! Air Travel to Improve for Musicians

    An important provision that eases air travel for musicians was approved by Congress on February 6, 2012 as part of a broader package of federal aviation programs. The FAA has been operating on a series of short-term extensions since the 2007, and reauthorization has been a lengthy and hotly debated process.

See all Travel with Instruments News Items

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