We all deal with stress regardless if we are musicians, lawyers, moms, dads, construction workers, bankers, janitors… list goes on. This is what I click on when I am stressed, and I am not the most religious person, but I do know that some unexplainable and undeniable energy is there – God is just one name for it…
March 20, 2011, Beehive Coffee House in Pittsburgh.
Sometimes musicians forget that classical music IS about music, and not about weddings, orchestra rehearsals, practice room sessions and teaching kids how to play “Twinkle, Twinkle”. Sometimes, it is simply about getting together and playing. That is exactly what Pittsburgh musicians did on March 20th at the Beehive on SouthS ide. We had all the string instruments involved: violins, violas, cellos, double-bass, along with clarinet, flute, guitar… Musicians simply put themselves in groups, forming trios, quartets and even quintets, playing whatever they felt like playing. No pressure, no judgment. Surprisingly enough, there were quite a few people listening, even children. It is a great way for people to learn about chamber music in a relaxed setting, while socializing with friends and drinking a glass of wine. Hopefully, we will have more of these sessions. Here is the photo of myself, a violinist and a cellist. We had fun, no doubt!
With weather warming up and sun peeking out, musicians are getting ready to play at spring weddings. The most fearful word for this time is “weather”… Regardless of the forecasts weather remains unpredictable: it might be a perfect sunny day for your wedding when you expected rain, or you will be running for cover in the middle of your wedding ceremony due to a sudden thunderstorm, when all your preparations were based on a prediction of a beautiful afternoon!
As wedding musicians we played at many weddings in the spring time when it was us running for cover, right behind the bride and the groom! An advice on this potential problem on your wedding day: regardless of the official forecast – always plan on having an indoor venue as a back up if your ceremony is scheduled to be outside. Several times we finished playing ceremony music for the couple in the hallways of adjacent buildings, and it was pretty “memorable” time in the negative way. On a different occasion, the downpour began midway during the wedding vows, but the couple had a back up plan in a form of a erected tent near by, under which we finished playing and they got to the end of their wedding vows mostly dry.
Obviously, many wedding venues will charge an additional fee for such a back up, but for the peace of mind it might be worth it. Needless to say from our perspective as musicians – under no cirumstances can we expose our instruments to rain, even a few drops can cause damage to the glue and the structures of violin, violas and cellos.
Summary? Plan ahead, don’t trust the weather man ( they get paid whether or not they are correct), and stay dry!