For
some ideas on how to make your event unique and memorable, check
out our blog entries! Our clients constantly surprise us with their
ingenuity.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
much-loved client
Whenever Therese calls us we cheer up.
* Lovely Therese getting her hand tattood with henna!
A long-time client, she calls us whenever the oil rig company she works for, completes the construction of an oil rig.
* This is an actual rig the company built. Absolutely amazing stuff.
The gigs we do for her are characterized by:
* The presence of numerous expatriates * An appreciative audience who never fails to warm our hearts with applause * Great food * Stellar hospitality
Therese always makes us feel like we are guests and not just paid staff who are there to do a job and leave.
She is more concerned if we have had our drinks or have eaten, rather than counting the sets!
Because of that, it feels like we are playing for a friend!
It always a pleasure because she and the guests absolutely loves our Abbas, particularly the snappy ones like Super Trouper and Mamma Mia.
And for some reason the gigs always coincide with her American boss’s wedding anniversary or wife’s birthday, and we always end up serenading the couple.
Tonight we play at the exotic Sentosa Pavilion at the Sentosa Golf Club's Serapong Course.
The glass-walled dining room overlooks a bright green sea of immaculate golf course.
Therese tells us stories about the oil rigs the companies build and how these incredible mega-drills travel to places as far-flung as Brazil to extract oil from the deep sea.
We hope to play for her again when the next rig is completed!
The team:
* Sher on Violin, Luke on Violin, Karon on Keyboard
The blog has not been updated in a long while but if anything that reflects our current status: Busy!
We recently did a January wedding at Capella Singapore on Sentosa, for Ben and Wenxin’s church ceremony and wedding dinner.
A newish hotel which promises to “set a new luxury standard for hotels in Singapore”, it is truly stunning and epitomises the word “exclusive”.
Tucked away in a lush green area of Sentosa with huge towering trees in all the right places, the refurbished colonial bungalow is a jewel outside and inside.
CHURCH CEREMONY
The church ceremony was in a lovely sunlit room with a stunning view of the sea and ships. The folks from Wedding Concierge made it even lovelier with a backdrop for the solemnization.
Our string quartet – cello, viola, 2 violins – created a classy ambience for the fomal ceremony, with Pachelbel’s Kanon in D for the walk-in and a surprising “So Happy Together” for the walk-in.
* Cellist and group founder, Paul
DINNER
The ballroom was huge, open with opulent chandeliers.
We played our sweeping “Tian Chang Di Jiu” for the lovely couple’s walk-in.
*Wenxin's mother, Wenxin's sister, Wenxin and Ben
The evening took a surprising turn when the couple’s family friend, actor Huang Wenyong, stepped up to the mike and, with a gallant nod of acknowledgement to our group, launched into a medley of Hokkien ditties which had the older folks in the audience bobbing their heads.
The Piano Quintet At Chijmes to Welcome the New Year!
The group have really been busy of late! But this entry for the new year is special, as we perform again as a piano quintet. The richness of our arrangements cannot be fully expressed until all five instruments are present. The piano quartet and piano trios are capable groups, without a doubt, but with the quintet, the pianist is free from having to maintain the bass, and is able to go ballistic with improvised passaged and jazzy runs.
The group is really proud to be real masters of our own music now :) For too long, the sound balance has been at the mercy of hotel sound techicians, but all that changes with our very own mixer. Old problems about the piano being too loud or too soft compared to other instruments will be a nightmare of the past, though the overall volume will still be dependent on the venue's technicians. But it's a major step in the group's quest to provide classy and excellent music to our clients, and we all look forward to utilizing the equipment to the fullest!
The group braved traffic conditions on the causeway last evening to bring our brand of music (jazz, classical, pop, sentimental, worship) to another client's lovely wedding, and again, we had a wonderful rapport with our audience - we had a rousing applause when we ended the evening with our trademark Striiiings arrangement, the Theme from Mario and Mappy.
This particular arrangement employs catchy tunes from two arcade games, and showcases the entire group's virtuosity performing at a breakneck speed. The uplifting music also brings smiles to everybody, and without doubt, is one of our favourite pieces.
Meanwhile, it was fantastic to perform overseas. We found ourselves in the unusual position of working in a strange hotel (Hyatt Regency in Johor Bahru) with different customs, and it was extremely refreshing, so used now we are to almost all the hotels in Singapore.
And of course, we'll continue to work hard to reach more people around the world with our performances :)
Hotels, golf clubs, restaurants, we have done them all. But never has Striiiings played at a void deck.
Never to say NO to a challenge, we accepted the gig - a Malay wedding - and to our delight, it's turned out to be one of our best.
Perched on a stage in the middle of a badminton court in Jurong West under a big white tent, we sounded brilliant and the guests thoroughly enjoyed music which would not usually be heard in the heartland setting.
Despite the humble location, the court was beautifully done up and the stage looked as good as those that can be found in a hotel, chandeliers and all.
The buffet spread was wonderful and the couple very graciously offered us dinner without our asking, as the gig was a long one. We were present from 7pm to 11pm.
Best of all, the sound system was just as good as most hotel sound systems, so we sound the way we are supposed to and that is so crucial. As the badminton court was surrounded by flats, we were probably heard by all the residents sitting at home, some of whom came down to listen. The couple were also entranced when we played "Bukan Cinta Biasa" by Siti Nurhaliza.
It was a truly enjoyable gig.
Here's a clip of one of the pieces we played that night, the tango, Por Una Cabeza, from "Scent of a Woman".
