I have to say that this is probably the most beautiful place our string quartet have performed at – and we have played at hundreds of places over the years! The gardens were gorgeous with blooming roses, the view of a glacier lake is breathtaking! No wonder  I counted at least five different weddings going on at the same time there, as well as many visitors. Yet another hidden treasure in Ohio. I hope we get to play there again so I can come early and explore the area more…

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…

www.theinterviewwithgod.com

 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!

This is a topic that  comes up very often for our wedding musicians.  Many times a bride will book our trio or a quartet to play not only for the wedding ceremony but also during a cocktail hour or a wedding dinner.  

As an example, here is an actual job that our string quartet did last summer in Pittsburgh area.  The musicians played for the wedding ceremony from 3pm-4pm, then drove about fifteen miles south of Pittsburgh to a different location, to play for a two-hour dinner reception which started at 5:30 in the evening. In brief, 3pm-4pm – wedding ceremony, 5:30pm-7:30pm – dinner reception at a different location.  

The bride who booked our string quartet for that day was surprised at first that she had to pay us not for three hours of playing time, but for 4.5 hours, which include playing AND traveling time, so-called “in-between” time.  After my fairly reasonable explanation, she did pay us for 4.5 hours and it turned out to be a great job for us – people were very friendly and attentive to our music, we played some songs on requests, and even got fed by the caterers!

The explanation is the following: even though musicians are not playing during the time that they travel between the ceremony and dinner reception sites, they are still on the job, committed to that period of time (in this case from 3pm until 7:30pm), without the ability to go home or anywhere else.  That traveling time becomes part of our job, and part of the fees that musicians will charge, since their time, gas money, wear and tear on the car IS devoted to that job.  

Another short example similar to the above happened when a bride asked us to have a string quartet play for one hour on the boat during her wedding.  However, we were going to be on that boat for six hours total and she refused to pay us for six hours. I suggested that we can also play for dinner on the boat, but she refused the offer.

As a different example: our trio played at a wedding ceremony (also in Pittsburgh) where the wedding dinner took place the following day – the family had unusual circumstances that had to be accommodated. Obviously, in this case we charged for one hour of wedding ceremony music and for three hours of requested dinner music the following evening. We treated that as two different jobs even though it was for the same family, and we charged for the total of four hours of playing – nothing for “in between” time.  

A tip for saving money if your wish to hire musicians for ceremony and dinner is this: hire a string quartet to play for the wedding ceremony, and hire a trio for the reception or dinner.  You will have one less musician for the dinner music without losing the quality of the group, but it will save you a good amount of money.

I have been reading numerous articles lately related to wedding ceremonies, especially emphasizing the relationship between brides and their wedding vendors.  I even came across one story where a bride was very displeased with the ceremony musicians that she hired.  One of the main comments from all brides is that “…everyone assumes that we know exactly what we want, as we have been planning our dream wedding since we were five years old…”. 

I see their point. Many vendors quite often assume that brides have it all figured out and just want to hand over their money to a vendor to get whatever it is they “figured out”.  I have to say I am glad I work with our clients, especially brides under a completely opposite assumption: a bride wants to have ceremony music for her wedding.  Usually a bride has no idea how many musicians she wants, she likes some music in our wedding repertoire, but  not sure which ones would suit her wedding ceremony the best; she might not know the difference between a string quartet and a string trio.  I really feel that my job as a professional wedding musician is to explain everything in as many details as needed to a bride, then give her time to process all the information. After that, make my suggestions on ceremony music, music for the prelude and postlude, and any relevant advice pertaining to wedding music.  

I used to think that in our “internet-oriented’” society I do not need to be so involved and detailed with brides.  After all, they can find and listen to any wedding song on the web.  However, it is a very different feeling when instead of trusting a computer screen to decide on your wedding music, you get a chance to discuss it at length with a wedding professional. 

In the enormous world of wedding industry I think it is pretty hard to be a bride and I do whatever I can to diminish the stress that brides go through in their preparations for the big day.  I will spend as much time as needed with every bride discussing their wedding music, their song choices and any music related topic.  It is my job to which I am dedicated and it is their big celebration and i truly want it to be memorable for each and every one of my clients! 

Christmas season is one of the busiest time for musicians in Pittsburgh.  For past several years I have been a part of several Christmas services that take place at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Sewickley, Pa, a small historical town north of Pittsburgh.  The church music director hires musicians from Pittsburgh to form a chamber orchestra including violins, violas, cellos,bass, flute,clarinet and trumpet, and we perform along with the church choir.  We usually play at two evening services on Christmas Eve. with about thirty minutes of music program prior to each service.  In between the services musicians have time for a break and also for food that church and choir members so graciously provide for us!  It is one of those jobs that never quite feels like a job but more like an annual fun event, where we see the same group of musicians and friends in both, choir and orchestra.  Since I was part of the orchestra, I had no way of taking photos of us playing, but during the break I took a couple of photos of Christmas decorations at the church. It is a wonderful place with very friendly people full of energy, smiles and warm hearts. Thank you to all of you for having us play at your church for all these years!

Most of the times when our trios and quartets play at wedding ceremonies, they usually play anywhere between fifteen and thirty minutes of prelude music in different genres.  It is a nice way to make a transition from the “before” the ceremony time into the actual wedding ceremony.  It keeps the guests occupied as they are coming in, and in case if the ceremony runs late ( happens more often then some might think!), there is no awkward silence – the musicians will keep on playing. I work very closely with brides in helping them select the wedding music for their ceremony. However, ninety nine percent of time they ask me to come up with our own choices for the Prelude music. I have an extensive music repertoire for all group combinations, from duo to quartets and it is very easy to put together a program of the music for preludes. 

I mentioned in one of my other posts that Prelude music plays a bigger role in a wedding ceremony than it might seem. It is a period of time when guests are waiting for ceremony to start, either sitting in pews if the wedding is in the church, or simply meandering around if it is an outdoor ceremony.  It is also time when some people meet for the first time – distant relatives and friends from both sides of the wedding party, that can be uncomfortable as well.  Believe it or not, a familiar piece of music can be a start of a conversation. I have observed people listening to us while we play a very familiar piece : “..Oh,I know that! I played that in high school!… It is my mother’s favorite song!  I heard it on the radio and really like it!.. My friend’s daughter played that at her wedding, too..” Comments like that can lead to people opening up and talking to each other, creating a comfortable atmosphere during the rest of the wedding ceremony, making people feel at ease, and make them pay more attention to the ceremony and not their cellphones and I-podes ( I’ve seen that, too!). 

So, what is a good way to choose appropriate Prelude music? It might not be a bad idea to ask some of your wedding guests what their favorite pieces are, may be even include that question in their wedding invitation. When you get the invitations back – make a list of the pieces that guests mentioned in their invitation and then pass it along to us so we can add them in our Prelude music list.  If you really want to please your future in-laws early on – ask them the same question and we will make sure to play their favorite piece as well.   

Since most of the jobs that our string quartets and trios play at are wedding ceremonies, the question that I am asked quite often by brides is “What is wedding music and how do I know if it is wedding related piece..?” 

There is really no one way to answer it. Really, it is your day and you may choose any pieces for your wedding music. The choice for wedding music is very personal. The first thing to decide is how personal you want your wedding to be, and that will give you direction in choosing wedding music. After many years of playing at weddings, I divide all weddings in three categories: traditional weddings, semi-traditional weddings, and non-traditional/unconventional ceremonies.  This division also helps me when I work with a couple on selecting music for their ceremony.

Traditional wedding will most likely include prelude music, ceremony music and postlude music. It also will have some key components such as seating of the parents, processional of the bridal party and the bride, communion, presentation of flowers to the Virgin Mary, possible Homily, Unity Candle and recessional. For each of these aspects there are specific pieces of wedding music that are played. Moreover, certain pieces of wedding music are almost expected to be heard by the guests since the ceremony is traditional. You wouldn’t want to play a Beatles song during a communion. More likely, a piece such as “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” would fit here.  In my opinion, in a traditional wedding you have some flexibility with music choice, but you also have to choose it from a set wedding music repertoire that has been around for years and is expected to be played. 

In a semi/traditional wedding you have a lot more room for deviation from standard wedding music repertoire, and yet you still keep the element of tradition. We played at many weddings where the music for the processional was a pop-tune that meant a lot to the couple, and yet, the wedding music for the Unity Candle and the recessional was more familiar to the guests. Speaking of guests, and it is my opinion only. Over the years, I observed a lot of guests during wedding ceremonies and how they behave at them, whether or not they are bored or not, looking at their watches or cellphones, or if they are completely engrossed in the ceremony and the couple.  I think the choices of wedding music always made a difference in the way the guests were acting. If the program was put well together, and the guests got to hear pieces that they recognized or liked, it made it more interesting for them, verses the wedding music that was totally obscure for the guests, who ended up counting minutes until the ceremony was over.  I do understand that wedding day is for bride and a groom, but it also involves guests who are spending their time, money and effort to be there for the couple, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make a day memorable not only for the couple but for their guests.  Careful choices of wedding music is one way of doing so.

The last category, the unconventional weddings are the ones where musicians play either the songs that have an exclusive meaning to the bride and a groom and quite often unfamiliar to guests, or some popular rock and pop music. These ceremonies usually do not last more that fifteen minutes, with a very short prelude and just as short of a postlude. At these ceremonies it can be challenging to combine classical wedding music and wedding music that was requested by the bride or the groom. 

I guess anything can be referred to as wedding music as long as it fits your ceremony set up. The choices are unlimited among wedding music in classical, sacred, pop repertoire. You only have to be careful of how you combine the different genres in one wedding ceremony, making sure it all fits together.

This was a trio consisting of violin, viola and cello playing wedding music for a ceremony. It has moved up my own personal list of favorite places. It is fairly far from Pittsburgh ( off either Donegal or Somerset from PA turnpike), but what a place!  We played inside what looked like a gigantic barn room, with beautifully done woodwork and a fireplace. I don’t think I’ve met nicer people anywhere else, and we got so many compliments even though we didn’t play all that much, total of about an hour. The only downside – poor ventilation for the fire place. Within seconds of starting the logs, the smoke filled the room, setting the fire alarm off several times (tuned to a D  – we checked!), and making everyone’s eyes burn for a while. Still, it was wonderful and we felt really appreciated by those who were listening to us.