Q: My event is outside. Do I have to rent a tent for the group?   Or a heater?
A: No… but the instruments, cases and music must be protected from precipitation, direct sunlight, high winds, and temperature extremes (temperatures between 68° and 99° with minimal winds are usually fine). In many venues, shade can be provided by trees, large shrubs, deck-sized umbrellas, porches, nearby buildings, or clouds. Shade is critical for the violin and cello, whose varnish is damaged by repeated exposure to sunlight - this is not a cosmetic issue; the varnish significantly impacts the tone quality. Precipitation protection does require some sort of roof over our heads. In high winds, it is difficult to keep the music stands from blowing over- and possibly hitting the cello! Also, if the air temperature is in the 60s or lower, with a brisk wind, the chill factor is significantly stronger, and the abrupt temperature change could crack the wood of the violin or cello. In difficult weather, we have sometimes played from inside the nearest building (in front of a partially opened window), or from a covered porch. If your venue has no buildings nearby, the weather is bad, and you do not arrange for some shelter (and for heat if it is very cold), it is possible that the trio may not be able to play at all. Please consider this carefully- we would hate to disappoint you!

Snow in Charlottesville ...
 

Q: My event is booked from 5:00 – 6:00 pm. When will the group arrive? When will you start playing?
A: The group will be setup and ready to go 15 minutes before the beginning booked time. So in this example, setup by 4:45 pm, start playing at 5:00 pm, and stop playing at 6:00 pm.

Q: What if I need to change the time after I sign a contract?
A: Contact the group ASAP. If it is at all possible to move the booking time, we will. Please note that it is not unusual for the trio to be booked for more than one event per day, and while we have factored in some safety time around each booking, there is not much wiggle-room.

Q: What if my wedding runs overtime?
A: Ah, weddings… We understand that there may be factors beyond your control that cause you to run a little behind schedule (traffic jams, relatives-who-will-be-late-for-their-own-funeral, infants needing clothing changes…), so when booked for just the wedding ceremony (no reception, etc.) , we allow a free fifteen minute grace period. That means that if you are booked from 5:00 – 6:00 pm, and the postlude finishes at 6:15 pm, there is no additional charge. However, after that, overtime charges accrue for each quarter-hour (or portion thereof). If we are booked for another event immediately after yours, then we may have to leave after the grace period. In over 10 years of playing for hundreds of weddings, we have never yet left an event before it finished, but we once did play the last 20 minutes as a flute-cello duet.

Q: Can you accompany a vocalist?
A: Yes, we have accompanied many vocalists. In most cases, we do require a short rehearsal, just before the event, which incurs a small additional fee. If you choose music for which we do not have a trio/vocal arrangement, you may request that we make an arrangement, which also incurs a small fee, or you can send us sight-readable parts for flute, violin, and cello.
IMPORTANT: We need to know what key the vocalist needs for each piece a few weeks in advance of the date. When using music that the trio has created for trio & vocalists, we will edit & print flute, violin, and cello parts in that key at no charge.

Q: There is a beautiful piano piece I played when I was taking piano lessons- and I’ve always wanted it for my processional (or recessional or interlude…) - can you make an arrangement for trio for me?
A: Probably! Please send us title / composer / publisher, or even better, a copy of the sheet music. We’ve done this many times, and it is usually works out just fine. (We’ve even done Beatles!) However, this usually works best if the music is a genre that is standard for a classical chamber group.