Music for Any Special Event or Wedding
Professional and Experienced
Katrina Wreede has over 25 years experience providing elegant, professional special event music in every kind of venue, from major Bay Area venues like the Fairmont Hotel, Ritz Carlton Hotel, Sir Francis Drake Hotel, St. Francis Hotel, Kohl Mansion, the Academy of Science, Asian Art Museum, Brazil Room, Clairmont Hotel, the Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco’s Green Room, Mondavi, Copia, Hans Fahden, Rutherford, B. R. Cohn, Beaulieu Gardens, Auberge du Soleil, Embarcadero Hyatt, Berkeley City Club, UC Berkeley Faculty Club, Ritz Half Moon Bay, University Club of San Francisco, Commonwealth Club, City Club of San Francisco, Berkeley City Club, Maritime Museum, Land’s End, Flood Mansion to restaurants and community centers around the Bay, to private homes and even picnic areas and forest and beach gatherings.
Many Ensembles and Instruments
Depending on the size of your wedding, the venue, and fitting into your budget, we can provide any size group from solo violin, string duo, flute and violin, string trio, strings and flute, strings and guitar, strings and harp to traditional or amplified string quartet. One of the unique things about the ensembles is that we can play all the standard classical repertoire for a very elegant ceremony, and then switch to jazz standards and American Songbook favorites for the reception. That saves having to hire an entirely different ensemble just to change the mood. Please don’t compare us with some string groups that read arrangements of Joplin rags or jazz. All the players are classically trained professionals and also jazz improvisors, so you have expertise in every style.
A typical 2-hour wedding booking might include: 30 minutes of classical and Baroque prelude music, gradually moving from meditative to celebratory as guests gather; special selections for the Mothers/Honored Guests, the Bridesmaids, and the Bride’s Procession, a prayer/meditation piece during the service, a festive and exciting Recessional, then a mix of familiar jazz, swing, and American Songbook tunes (Cole Porter, Gershwin, Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Jobim, etc.) during the cocktail hour.
Repertoire
The repertoire is completely custom-tailored to your tastes and needs. For instance, we can include some ethnic music for a favorite aunt from the “old country” or play special sacred music from your church’s hymnal or even accompany your cousin, the family singer, on a special piece during the ceremony. Every group available here consists of conservatory or equivalent trained, life-long professional musicians who are not only well-versed in the entire standard classical repertoire, but also familiar with improvising in jazz, swing, rock, and more popular styles. We strive to provide a diverse and pleasing collection of familiar repertoire that creates exactly the ambiance you want and work with you as much as you like to craft the playlist to your specifications.
On Site Logistics
Ensembles require armless chairs for each player, enough space for chairs and music stands and clearance for guests and servers to pass, and complete shade for players and instruments. For Solo violin, just room to stand and shade.
Possible Extra Fees
(please ask for a quote for your special situation)
Travel outside a 60 mile radius of Oakland requires an additional travel fee based on distance. The immediate Bay bq. Area and Wine Country do not require a travel fee.
Occasionally, a very difficult arrangement of a specially requested tune may require an arranging fee, usually $25-50.
Costumes require an additional fee.
Harp or portable electric piano require an additional cartage fee based on distance.