I am trying to find some classical musicicans for about 45 minutes to 1 hour for the ceremony portion of my wedding (both the ceremony and the reception are being held at the Nahant Country Club in Nahant, MA). I just need music during the ceremony (guest seating, walking down the isle, and a few minutes after the 10-15 minute ceremony). My Uncle Frank is the webmaster at PianoWorld, and suggested I post something here to ask for suggestions. Uncle Frank will be playing my cocktail hour, but classical is not really his "thing." I was hoping you could help with suggestions because all the classical duos I have contacted so far through wedding websites (piano/guitar, guitar/flute, piano/violin, guitar/violin, piano/harp, etc.) are quoting me approx $600 for 1 hour. I don't know if that is a typical rate, but seems high. So if anyone knows of some local classical musicians that could play my ceremony at a reasonable rate (I'm not cheap, but $600/hour seems exorbitant), I could use some help. One idea I had was to cold call some local music teachers and/or high school music teachers to see if they have any “star” students that want to make some $$... but Uncle Frank suggested I try the PianoWorld forums first, so any help would be much appreciated! Thanks for listening! Oops, forgot to mention that the wedding date is Saturday, November 17, 2007...

What is the date of the wedding?? I may be in the area a few times in the coming year.

$600/hour seems very high, but I don't know your area. In my area, it's around $250-400/wedding. I think it's best that you go to a university and look for some advanced piano students; they would be quite happy to play for your wedding at a reasonable rate.

I won't be in the area - sorry... But I agree that $600 sounds quite high for one hour. I typically charge $150 if I'm playing solo, and other instrumentalists I've played with typically charge around the same. If you had a trio or a quartet, I could understand $600, but for only two musicians that seems a bit high to me.

I have hired musicians through the New England Conservatory 'Music Referral Service' with excellent results. You fill out a form describing the event, type of music, type of ensemble, and so forth; NEC posts the request; and soon, a student contacts you. The last time I used the service was January 2006; a string quartet charged $500 to play for an hour (before and during the wedding ceremony). Good luck!
http://www.newenglandconservatory.edu/mrs/info.html

Congratulations to you, Coastrlvr on your upcoming wedding day!!

Is there an acoustical piano at the Nahant CC?? Would having a solo pianist be sufficient?

I would suggest contacting PW member "John Citron" if you are interested in having a classical pianist for your ceremony. There might even be someone whom John knows that would be interested in accompanying him on another instrument.

I agree with all the above - $600 is steep unless they attend the rehearsal too. Sounds like Dale's suggestion to call NEC is very good.

In Music City, I get $160 for a "walk-in" wedding. A duo would not cost much over $300. If anyone's interested in wedding fees in Nashville TN, see my site at Going to the Chapel

James Weinberg