This church where our musicians performed for a winter wedding definitely deserves mentioning because of the wedding coordinator that we were working with.  Her name, appropriately so, is Hope.  She definitely gave the musicians hope that there are others out there in the wedding world like her.  She was very friendly, greeted the musicians  as if she knew us for years, set us up with chairs, making sure we were comfortable and fussing over us like a good grandmother would.  She knew every detail for the wedding ceremony, including the pieces that the musicians were going to play.  We had to have a last minute change in the music order and without any problem she found the bride, got back to us within a minute with an answer the musicians needed. Our musicians performed at hundreds of weddings over the years, and I must say – this was the most outstanding handling of the wedding ceremony by a coordinator!!!

A very cozy restaurant in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, where a duo of a violist and a cellist played for a small wedding ceremony.  Afterwards, we had some appetizers off a menu – wonderful food, although somewhat expensive

This was probably one of the most unusual and fun job for our musicians – a wedding proposal at the Mt. Washington.  The gentleman proposing was organized with the  smallest details, from musicians to cameras, to videographers and setting up a tent for us.  We JUST missed the rain by minutes – it started coming done pretty hard right after his proposal! The only downside – it was cold, but she did say “YES”!

This is a very beautiful retirement community, situated in the heart of South Hills in Pittsburgh.  Our musicians have played here for a special dinner event for selected guests.  It was a very regal/”classy” atmosphere, with the utmost friendly staff and a very appreciative audience.

A very nice location for a wedding, but a very long drive for musicians. Our string quartet musicians played here at a wedding ceremony which was very short, but we had to charge a lot just for traveling fees.

It is a conveniently situated hotel, in the very busy area of Pittsburgh.  The only issue we had is trying to call the hotel front desk : the musicians needed to know in which ballroom the wedding was taking place. It was very hard to get through the automated system and get a hold of a human being – the phone call was transferred out of state! No one was answering the phone at the front desk, and then the phone was transferred to the corporate office out of state. It was a twenty minutes ordeal for musicians to find out an answer to a simple question…

A private German club situated on the North Side of Pittsburgh, with a wonderful history of German culture.  Our string quartet have played here on several occasions, such as Christmas concert and a private dinner event.  Our last performance lasted over two hours with the musicians performing classical, pop and some german folk music.  The only downside of the last concert – the microphone was off for the first two hours! 🙂

This enchanted park is deceptively close to Pittsburgh – it took our string trio musicians less then thirty minutes from Pittsburgh. It is an absolutely wonderful setting for an outdoor wedding with a gorgeous view of a pond and a bridge. Very peaceful, relaxing.. perfect setting for classical music!

Our string duo, violist and a cellist, violist was also doubling on the violin, performed at this place for a holiday luncheon.  It was a very simple, yet elegant setting to play in, very tastefully decorated for Christmas.  The manager was very nice to us, as well as the rest of the staff. It is always a pleasure for musicians to perform in such low stress settings.

Our Pittsburgh string trio played at the wedding a few weeks ago at this chapel. I hope I don’t have such negative experience again. As a leader of my group I showed up early to set up. Apparently, I was way too early – the bride had indicated incorrect times on our contract. The sad part was how the staff treated me at the chapel. It was a hot, humid day. I have already had a hard time finding parking in Oakland. I showed up on the steps of the chapel with my  viola, music stand, my purse, and a fairly heavy bag with music binders for the rest of the musicians. Once I found out that I was early (there was another wedding in progress), I asked if I can use the restroom and leave my belongings there for a minute. Guess what? The answer was no. The wedding coordinator was rude, curt and had an attitude, pretty much telling me to leave immediately, ignoring my questions. She saw all my bags, and yet told me to use the restroom in the building that was far from the chapel, seeing that I have all the “luggage” with me. Ignorant? Yes. Inconsiderate? Yes.