Electric Violin at the British Museum

We had the pleasure of working with the superb Peppermint Diva Events  for their client's event in the British Museum on Monday.  Sarah provided tunes to accompany the beats of Lyndsay - the venue looked amazing and a great event was held.  Well done to Peppermint for their usual impeccable magic.

Sarah and Lindsay make a great pairing - always great to see a female DJ, and they both look and sound in perfect harmony with each other.

Electric violin and DJ for hire is also a perfect corporate act.  It works so well on so many levels - it can be relaxing and chilled and just as quickly go more uptempo as the evening progresses - why have 2 acts doing this when one can so effectively? 

Wedding String Quartet

We have a host of brilliant wedding string quartets to hire and are currently getting some great new arrangements of songs to add to our repertoire, including Chasing Cars, Crazy by Gnarls Barkley, Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics and much more.

Although the majority of wedding string quartets are hired and booked during January, February and March - there are always last minute requets - and with so many professional string players available, we love to step in and get it together at the last minute. So far we have provided brilliant musicians and bands to hire for more than 500 events when the brief was 'find the music fast - the event is tomorrow or in a few days time'....it's a great challenge to get the right people at the last minute and we love to work through our contact list and grab someone who is still available.

String quartets for hire are also avaialble for all other kinds of events, including engagement parties, marriage proposals, corporate entertainment and many more. If the weather improves, we'll be doing many more outdoor events. Forthcoming events include Paddington Recreation Ground bowling green opening and a string quartet for University Ceremony Awards in Regents Park.

Visit London Awards and More

We have just provided a great string quartet for the Visit London Awards at Westfield Shopping Centre. The piece was by Marc 01, who is a tenori-on expert. For those not aware (I, for one was not), this is a Yamaha instrument that looks and sounds very futuristic. You get some idea from the photo here. We played a straight version of Beethoven's 5th through microphones at the very start of the evening. Half way through, the beats kicked in, and the tenori-ons appeared. It was great fun, and we enjoyed working for SML Events - who were a lovely bunch of people, and created a great event!

Other unusual events were a recent Faroe Islands fashion event in Digitaria, Soho - where I played some highly unsual music by Sunleif Rasmussen. It was great, and whoever says people in fashion are superficial can eat their words. I've played this kind of music before - and usually, audiences cannot handle it for longer than a couple of minutes. I was amazed that these guys actually watched, as if it was a concert. Humanity faith-restoring stuff indeed.

Wedding string quartets are still hard at work, with December bringing weddings in Marble Hill House, Richmond - and Great Fosters Hotel, Twickenham - to name but two.

And the string section for Liquid Strings is hard at work with more concerts for Ioannis's Doxa Deo Church. We are looking forward to this, and on the same night, Julian and his jazz trio are perfroming at Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Bloomsbury Street. And we haven't even started the Xmas rush yet (sorry I mentioned the X word....)

New artists for Liquid Strings inculde a fantastic cello and dancer act, (perfect corporate entertainment for Christmas parties), a wonderful Big Band for hire and an amazing new gospel choir, who really have to be seen to be believed - but are amazing singers. They are ideal for weddings, parties and big events. Have a listen on their page.

October 'Green Shoots'

We are working like crazy to provide the right people for the events that you require. I am not convinced by the idea of 'green shoots'. I keep reading and hearing different points of view, but we have had to tackle the recession and the lack of overflowing budgets with smaller, bespoke options.
Not everyone requires such smaller bookings. In December, we are providing a string section for hire for 2 events held by Doxa Deo Church in London. One will be in Wimbledon, and one in Stratford Picture House. We love this, as playing miked up with a great band is a refreshing change from the standard classical music we often play. It is always a highly enthusiastic service, and led by the excellent singing and keyboard playing of Ioannis Dekas. We hope to get some film footage to put on the site as well this time.
Apart from this, we've provided Julian's solo guitar hire for several weddings, and over the summer in association with Courtneys at Paddington Recreation Park there were some fantastic duos including the brilliant corporate entertainment from Liquid Strings electric violin and keyboards/turntables Matt and Naomi. If a string quartet sounds a bit much, a string trio for hire can be excellent, and see the photo of Brian, Victoria and Stefano entertaining the guests at Putteridge Bury Conference Centre at Nick and Kelly Booth's wedding.

Ok, enough for now - got lots of work to do.

News and Tips for Events

Please feel free to add any comments/suggestions, or fire a question if you wish!

RECENT EVENTS

• Wedding Reception and Dinner in 'Home House' private members club.
• String Quartet to play for Sultanate of Oman in a Gala Dinner at Muscat, Oman.
• 60th Birthday Surprise Party string duo in Carvasso's Restaurant, Chiswick.
  

NEW ACTS

The best of our new acts are -

• Brazilian Samba Band (see above)
• Electric violin and keyboards/turntables duo with Cafe del Mar style music (see above)
• Hannah 30s style Swing Singer
  

MUSIC FOR EVENTS TIPS/IDEAS

Small is beautiful!

During the recession, we have been offering our clients budget-busting alternatives that still look and sound fantastic.

For example, if the event is not that large and you cannot afford to book a string quartet, why not book a string duo? The combination of violin and cello looks great, and most essentially, it sounds great as well. It can sound as good as a string trio, but is of course cheaper!

A solo musician doesn't have to be an expensive harpist (and if the harpist is not expensive, beware!). It can be a more economical cellist, jazz or classical guitarist.

An amplified function band can be exorbitant, but if you're looking for a cheaper alternative for live, amplified music for events, ask us about our jazz bands. Some of the combinations (ie trio with female singer) can be very reasonable and flexible in their fees.



With Best Wishes,
Brian

Solo musician for events

If your budget is low, but you want live music, book a solo musician for events and weddings. It can be absolutely beautiful and a very reasonable price. Julian on solo guitar has just entertained and moved Nadia and Matthew in their wedding, and Eva on solo flute made an impact on a small but beautiful church wedding in Farringdon. It's a really simple booking, and being solo, easier to get the music you require if there are any requests. Call Brian for a quote today - what are you waiting for?

string duos for weddings and corporate events

This combination is becoming more popular with us, especially for those without the budget for a string quartet. I am covering a lot of these with great new cellist, Magda - as violin and cello string duo is an ideal combination for weddings, parties, corporate events, product launches and many other kinds of events.
Liquid Strings is more than happy to cater for smaller budgets. If times are tough, that's no reason not to have live music - but we understand that booking an entire gospel choir during a recession is not a fantastic idea for most, so we would recommend smaller combinations, such as jazz solo artists, string duo for wedding and solo guitar.
Call Brian today for advice on how to find the best musicians to hire for your event, to make it a day or night to remember.