Musicians requirements on the day

1. Chairs: Please provide a flat, arm-less chair for each musician, set up in the position you’d like us to play.

2. Space: The String Quartet needs approximately 2m by 2.5m of space, the String Duo about 1.5m by 1.5m and a Solo instrumentalist requires 1.5m by 1m.

3. Lighting: We need enough lighting to be able to read our music, about the same as what you need to read a book.

4. Storage area: We need a space to put our cases, either a room or a corner out of sight of guests.

5. Shelter outside: We must have shelter from both rain and direct sun. Our instruments are valuable and can be damaged by these elements. If we are under trees, with debris likely to fall, then shelter from this is also important. A pergola, sun-shelter or the eaves of a building may likely be sufficient- please run it by us if you intend on having us play outside when you book.

6. Wet weather plans: Please could you inform us of your wet weather contingency plans.

7. Inform the venue: Please let your venue know we are coming so they are expecting us, and can turn off recorded music when we are playing.

8. Break: We will need to take a break for 5 minutes each hour of continuous playing, for a quick drink and stretch. In a 2 hour period of playing, we would take a 10 minute break in the middle, and would aim to take this at a convenient time-i.e during speeches.

9. Food: Refreshments and snacks are most welcome for lengthy engagements.

10. Publicity: We may take photos on the day for use on social media. Please let us know if you have a problem with this, or if you are willing to share your photographers images with us instead.

Terms of payment

1. Deposit: We require a 25% non-refundable deposit to secure your booking, and the remainder of payment is due on the day of the performance (or before if it’s more convenient as pre-arranged). 

2. Overtime: In the event that we are needed on the day for longer than originally booked (for example, if the bride is running late, or proceedings go overtime), then subject to the availability of the musicians, we can either continue playing or discreetly pack up and leave. Please let us know your preference in case this situation should arise.  
Our overtime rates are charged at: $25 for every 10 minutes extra per player. To avoid these higher overtime charges, please consider engaging us for a longer time in the first instance.

3. Cancellation: In the case of cancellation we need to receive written confirmation via email as soon as possible. If a cancellation is within 14 days of the event, full payment is still required. This is to reflect the fact that a late cancellation means we lose the opportunity to be re-booked.