Osmun Music Blog

Michael Thompson’s performance Benjamin Britten’s Serenade for tenor, horn, and strings, scheduled for Friday, Jan 16, and his class at Osmun Music on Saturday have been cancelled.

Boston Symphony principal horn James Sommerville will take Mr. Thomson’s place for the concert. As disappointed as I am not to have the chance to hear Michael play this piece I know that Jamie will do his usual outstanding job.

The reason for the cancellation is a particularly frustrating one:
Mr. Thompson was not able to secure the necessary work permit, the application for which had been in process for four months, in time for the trip. Even with help from the Massachusetts congressional delegation, the State Department could not be moved.

Following is the text of the letter sent to Mr. Thompson by Jeffrey Rawitch, General Manager of the Cantata Singers:

Dear Michael,

This past Friday, our congressman’s office received word from the service center that your work permit had been approved. The lady there immediately E-mailed the U.S. Embassy in London to see if we could get an expedited appointment lined up for you. She did not hear back on that day.

Even though we got confirmation that you had been approved on our end, without the physical letter of approval in my hand (which I assume is in the mail now from Vermont) I could not make any headway with the embassy either.

And, even with help at the congressional level, there is no guarantee that the embassy would be able to schedule a time with you AND turn around the visa paperwork in such a manner that would allow you to join us for the concert this Friday. (You said yourself that the regular processing time after you have your interview is five business days.) And so, after three months of knowing nothing and the past three weeks of knowing a lot but gritting our teeth the whole time, I am sad to report that we will not be able to bring you over to the U.S. for our concert.

As a precaution, we took the liberty of lining up another player -
James Sommerville. He was so understanding of the hardship we have faced that he was even willing to step aside if we could pull off a miracle at the end and bring you over. As we cannot, we at the very least have the concert covered.

I want to thank you personally for your patience, good nature, and
above all understanding throughout this entire process. It is cliche, and yet truth, to say, “Well, now we’ll know for next time,” but the unfortunate thing is that the lessons of next time come at the expense of the people of this time. We are deeply sorry that this has included you.

Last Friday, after she sent the E-mail to London, the lady at the
congressman’s office called me to apologize, as she had meant to call London as well but forgot to do so before they closed. The reason she forgot? The U.S. House of Representatives was passing a resolution on the events happening in Gaza, and she was working on some legislation language for the congressman. I think that, even though I am upset about the work permit taking so long and ultimately not coming through, her statement did help to give some perspective on things.

Again, my many thanks to you. I know that David will want to express his gratitude and sorrow as well. All my best, and take care.

Sincerely,

Jeff