Monday, July 11, 2011

66th Anniversary

I'd like to share my experience from an awesome event I was asked to play last week. I got a call from Les Concierges on a Wednesday afternoon, asking me to play for an anniversary dinner in a couple's apartment on Friday. Of course background dinner music is very standard for me, so I gave them the usual shpeel about pricing, performance practice, dress code, etc. However, upon further investigation into this event, I discovered that I was being asked to be the main attraction for an hour following dinner.  This was a much different situation than I had anticipated.   They were asking me to perform a full SOLO RECITAL, and had requested the Bruch Concerto in G minor!  This presented a problem, since I had already agreed to it, and gave them a standard price--not to mention the event was two days away.   


As it turned out, the anniversary party was for a couple, let's call them John and Joan, who were celebrating their 66th year of marriage.  Their daughter wanted to do something special for them as they were both over 90 years old and couldn't leave their apartment.  Both of them loved classical music, but they didn't have a piano in their apartment, so they needed the performer to be a soloist. John's favorite piece of all time was the Bruch Concerto, and his daughter requested I play it as a surprise for him.


I was in quite a pickle since I had two days to prepare, and solo violin music is REALLY hard!  (Plus, the Bruch Violin Concerto is meant to be performed with orchestral accompaniment!)  And who was I to deny this 90 year old couple of an hour of entertainment with their favorite piece of music?!?  So long story short, I pulled it off.


When I arrived at John and Joan's apartment, they were so surprised and excited to see me there.  I would perform a piece, and then tell them about the significance of the piece to me, and why I chose to perform it for them.  (They were crying after Salut D'Amour!)  I talked to them about my career as a violinist, how I got started, and how I purchased my current instrument.  I could tell how much they were enjoying it! 


The hour actually flew by, and I was having so much fun that I thought I could have gone on for another 3 hours!  When I finished, everyone thanked me for a beautiful performance and asked when I could come back!  Their daughter told me I was the perfect person to play for her parents :)


I honestly felt bad for charging them, because making people that happy should be free!  John and Joan probably won't have a chance to see another live musician like that day, but I was really glad to be able to be a part of such a special occasion!  I have the best job :)