Can you play outdoors? Yes, if there's no precipitation and it's over 18 degrees outside. We also need shade or shelter of some sort to protect the varnish on our instruments from direct sunlight. Some of our instruments are over 200 years old, so you can understand the importance of this. Cold air or excessive heat can be very damaging to the wood.
Do you have a contract? Yes, we do. It outlines our services and our needs. Do you ask for a deposit? Yes, we generally ask for a 20% deposit ahead of time. We also ask to be paid in the form of a post-dated cheque to be delivered before the date for which we're booked, OR cash on the day of the engagement, to be given to our leader before we begin playing. This is simply to prevent a situation in which we have to interrupt a receiving line, the bride and groom, or anyone else on the day of the event. Do you always perform with the same personnel? Not always. Anna, who manages personnel as well as being a performer, calls around to see who is available for your date. The Soliani Strings is made up of freelance musicians, which means that if one of us gets called away to perform with a symphony orchestra, we may not be available for your event. In this case, another player is called to fill in. Our musicians are all top quality, and we've all had over 10 years of experience in the field. What happens if one of your players is ill on the day of my event? Even if someone calls in sick on the morning of your event, we do our best to replace them immediately. However, there is no guarantee that we can find a substitute on very short notice. The other players hired will perform the music which you've requested, if possible, and the fee for the absent player will be immediately refunded. What does the administrative fee cover? The administrative and booking fee covers the following: time spent by the personnel manager to call and book players, write up contracts, as well as advertising, demo tapes and sheet music. Can you play music not on your repertoire list? Yes, we can. We have a great deal of repertoire already, and we're happy to discuss ideas with you.
If you've hired a string quartet, we can play much of the major repertoire if you ask us ahead of time.
Some examples of music that we wouldn't recommend are: Symphony movements, most concertos and other large orchestral works. We can however play much of the piano repertoire, provided that it doesn't require arranging (as this takes a long time).
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