Although weddings are the “bread & butter” of my business, I also provide musical entertainment for corporate events. I have had two such gigs in the past couple of weeks, so I thought it was about time to cover them here!
On September 15th, I went into downtown Chicago to play for a party. Actually, I had no idea what kind of event it was, just knew that I was supposed to play all Celtic music. Turned out that it was an 80th birthday party for a judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals! The Republican candidates for Governor and Attorney General were there, as well as justices from the Illinois Supreme Court.
The gig was lots of fun, and held in a law firm’s office overlooking the Chicago River – right on Wacker Drive. It’s not often that I get to break out my Celtic music binder, but the planners wanted to honor the Irish heritage of the judge. He commented several times how much he enjoyed the music, and how he recognized most of the tunes I played.
Of course moving all of the harp equipment up from an underground parking garage, through a lobby with tight security, and onto the 28th floor of a highrise wasn’t the easiest set-up I’ve done. Fortunately, I got there early (as always…I read lots of books waiting for events to begin) and had everything set up and ready to go well before guests started to arrive.
Yesterday, I was back near Chicago in the northern suburb of Long Grove, IL. I was hired by a country club there to provide harp music for their ladies’ fall tea. They modeled the event after the High Tea at the Drake Hotel.
I played at the country club once before for their Mother’s Day brunch last May, and this was a much smaller and intimate group. They had the fireplace going (not next to the harp, of course!) and served finger sandwiches, salads, scones & pastries. Several of the ladies commented that a tea would make a lovely alternative to the traditional bridesmaids’ luncheon or bridal shower.