Those of us who regularly handle arts immigration matters before USCIS are used to this, but the readers of the New York Times might have been a bit surprised to learn what happened to Dutch opera singer Cora Burggraaf:
The rising young Dutch mezzo-soprano Cora Burggraaf has been gaining attention with operatic roles and recital programs from London to San Francisco. Still, presenting her New York recital debut on Sunday afternoon at the Frick Collection was clearly a personal milestone. She traveled to the United States just for this one performance. And in a wide-ranging program of French and German songs, she sang beautifully.
Yet there was one major complication. Because of a last-minute ruling from a regional immigration office, Ms. Burggraaf’s accompanist, the British pianist Simon Lepper, was denied a visa. As it routinely does, the Frick had applied for two visas well in advance. But the ruling, which came on Thursday, stated that these two artists had not performed together enough to make them a duo. So Ms. Burggraaf had to travel alone.
Fortunately, the Frick found an impressive substitute, Jonathan Kelly, an experienced vocal accompanist currently on the faculties of the Yale School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. Still, the ruling on the visa application is another example of the inexplicable assessments of the immigration agency regarding touring artists in a post-9/11 world. Ms. Burggraaf and Mr. Lepper have performed together several times. If two artists feel that they make a compatible duo, how can their judgment be questioned?