TikTok virtuoso Esther Abrami claims she was ‘spoken to like a piece of garbage’ as Ryanair staff insisted her fragile instrument be hold luggage.

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A leading young violinist says that she experienced public humiliation and had to hold back tears as she was denied boarding on a flight from her family home in Marseille to Berlin for a recording session.

British-French violinist Esther Abrami, who is one of classical music’s leading lights on social media, says that she was “spoken to like a piece of garbage” as Ryanair insisted she could not bring her instrument with her for the European flight.

“I was refused boarding on a Ryanair flight with my 200 years old violin today,” she said in an Instagram post on Tuesday evening. “On my way to Berlin, departing from Marseille to record my third album with Sony Classical, this is the first time I have experienced such rudeness and public humiliation.”

 

Abrami was named as one of Classic FM’s Rising Stars in 2021. In April 2022 she made her Royal Albert Hall debut playing Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending at Classic FM Live. As a recording artist, she made her Song Classical debut in 2022.

It is on social media where she has made her biggest impact, with over one million followers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Her posts and videos are credited to inspiring a new generation of string players.

“Just before boarding the flight I was stopped and told I could not board on with my violin,” she explained in a post and story. “I offered to pay whatever it would cost to take it with me, they refused. I offered to buy an extra seat, they said the flight was closed already and I could not buy an extra seat anymore (despite the flight not being full).”

“I explained the price and the fragility of the violin. I begged them, explaining I was recording this very same day for my album, telling that I had flown an incredible number of times with this company and never experienced this.”

“They made me open my case on the floor, put the violin in the place to measure suitcases. The requirements for the cabin luggage -which I had paid for already- is a length of 55cm. My violin measures 56cm, it fitted diagonally, and otherwise was 1cm over. Even this was refused.”

The violinist said that staff then told her to “get out of the way” if she was not willing to check her fragile instrument into the plane’s luggage hold.

Esther Abrami plays Clara Schumann Romance No. 1 | Classic FM’s Rising Stars

Abrami says she feels incredibly fortunate that she was able to book a last-minute ticket on another airline. “Not every musician can have this opportunity,” she said.

“Missing a flight often means losing a vital work opportunity, whether it’s a gig, a recording session, or an important meeting.”

“In an industry where every opportunity counts, such an incident can have a ripple effect, impacting reputation and future prospects. This is simply unacceptable.”

Classic FM has contacted Ryanair for comment.