2 violins, a viola, and a cello.

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We play strictly as a quartet for the following reasons:

• The selection of music is limited for duos and trios.  Not many arrangements are written for this configuration.

• The sound of a smaller ensemble will not give you the full range of sound that you get with a quartet.  The music tends to sound "thinner" as though there is a part missing (which, of course, there is).

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Anything you want.  In the past we have played for weddings, commitment ceremonies, a christening party, corporate dinners, holiday parties, and church concerts.

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Outdoors on cooler days or indoors (air-conditioned):  
Men wear tuxedos.  Women wear all black.

Warmer days that are either outdoors or indoors with no air-conditioning:   
Men wear business-type shirt, slacks, and tie.  Women wear all black.

For Weddings:  We arrive one  hour ahead in order to set up, warm up, and work out details with the wedding director.

For other types of events:  We arrive 30 minutes before our scheduled performance time.

If one of our regular musicians is unavailable for an event, a comparable substitute will be contracted to play in his/her place.  We know several professional musicians we can call on for this purpose.

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Since we are occasionally booked by agents, we have agreed not to post our rates on this site.  You can fill out our Quote Request Form or contact us to get rate information.  Our manager does her best to send replies within 24 hours.

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We require a deposit along with a signed contract.  The contract can be sent to you electronically (MS Word or PDF) for you to look over, and basically outlines date, time, location, special requests, and environmental conditions.  

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If you cancel 48 hours or more before the event, we keep your deposit but there are no additional fees.  If you cancel within 48 hours of the event, you are responsible for the entire balance.

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Yes, we've played for several outdoor ceremonies.   We have a few provisions outlined in our contract for outdoor playing, mostly for the protection of our instruments which are sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity.

• Our instruments cannot be exposed to any amount of water (rain, drizzle, spray from a fountain).  Note that tents are not always adequate protection in medium to heavy rain; many of them have tiny holes that let water through or rain blows in from the sides.
• We cannot be in direct sunlight.  Sunlight can damage instruments, cause them to go out of tune very quickly, and sunlight in our eyes prevents us from reading our music. If there is no adequate shade at the venue, let the quartet manager know and we will bring a small canopy.  Note that trees are not always an ideal source of shade (falling sap, insects, uneven ground underneath).
• Temperature must be between 65 and 90.  Extreme temperatures are very hard on our 150+ year-old wooden instruments.  Cold temperatures make it impossible for our fingers to move.  Temperatures peak at 2:00 - 3:00 PM and drop only a couple of degrees by sunset.  In the summer, high heat usually lasts until sunset (around 9:00 PM).   In the winter, it gets considerably colder past sunset (around 5:30 PM)

If you are planning an outdoor wedding, please be sure to book an indoor location in the event of rain or extreme temperatures.   The decision to move indoors can be made by your venue when they get ready to set up, based on conditions at that time.  

If the outdoor area is right next to a building, it may be possible for only the quartet to be relocated indoors with a PA system to project the sound outdoors.  We have done this a couple of times with great success.

Unfortunately even "weatherproof" tents are not always enough protection against the elements.  Tents are moved around a lot and tend to develop tiny holes over time.  They tend to let in a mist of water, which our instruments cannot tolerate.  Also, tents offer little or no protection in extreme temperatures.  Tents can be pretty expensive to rent; you may find that a backup location inside a permanent structure is about the same amount.

As with outdoors, sunlight can damage instruments, cause them to go out of tune very quickly, and sunlight in our eyes prevents us from reading our music.   The quartet should be placed out of the way of direct sun patches.

The ideal space is approx. a 10 x 10 ft. square with level flooring.   Space and shape can affect performance.  We need to sit close together so we can see and hear one another easily.

Chairs provided by the venue should be armless.  If none are available, let the quartet manager know so we can bring our own.  We need to be seated in armless chairs to accommodate bowing.

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We usually play a mix of classical and popular music.  If you have a preference, just let us know.

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Carla (After Five's manager and violist) is very skilled at doing arrangement work.  However, it also takes a lot of her time.  Special requests such as a certain song may incur additional charges for the arrangement.  Please see the Special Requests page for details.

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Yes.  We are always looking to expand our repertoire to accommodate clients, especially when it's music we could easily use again.  Our current music library includes a some traditional Jewish wedding pieces and some Irish fiddle tunes. 

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Absolutely.  We have a complete collection of traditional Christmas tunes.

No.  Every wedding ceremony requires about the same amount of performance time and preparation, despite its length.

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Refer to the Selecting Your Wedding Music page for a complete list.

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No.  Typically wedding rehearsals are on Friday afternoon or early evening (during rush hour).  Because we have day jobs that scatter us all over the city, we have found it nearly impossible to attend wedding rehearsals.  

Instead, our manager will make you a CD of your ceremony music selections to take to your rehearsal.  This gives everyone in the wedding party the opportunity to hear the pieces and/or practice walking through with them.

As far as coordinating cues and working out timing, we arrive an hour ahead of your ceremony time to meet with the wedding director and officiant to work out cues for the music.  Processional timing is handled on the wedding day (see next question below).  In the past we found that timing on the actual day is always quite different from the rehearsal.

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We are used to adjusting the length of the processional pieces as we play by watching everyone come down the aisle.  We pencil in possible stopping points and repeats so we can easily adjust the length as closely to the processional as possible.

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Yes, as long as the piece selected is conducive to having a trumpet part added.  For example, Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary (a.k.a. The Prince of Denmark) and Handel's Hornpipe (from Water Music) are both excellent pieces for adding trumpet.

We have worked with trumpet players before and have connections with some talented ones in the Atlanta area, and would be glad to book one for you.  When inquiring about rates, please be sure to mention that you'd like a trumpet also so our manager can give you an accurate quote.

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Yes, and we have done so in the past for other clients.  Just a few notes on the specifics:

• We need at least two months notice to plan accompaniment.  This gives us time to obtain parts and communicate / rehearse with the soloist.
  
• If the accompaniment is not already in our library or cannot be obtained in quartet configuration, there may be an arrangement fee if a piano accompaniment has to be rewritten for the quartet.  Please refer to the Special Requests page for details.
  
• For out of town soloists, we can record our accompaniment and mail it a few weeks ahead so that he/she may practice with it.  Once the soloist arrives in town, we will rehearse just before the ceremony.
  
• We cannot accompany bagpipes.  This is not a preference, it's a technical issue.  Bagpipes often tune and play non-standard pitches which make it nearly impossible for standard orchestral instruments to play along with them.  I've heard such performances, and the end result has been that the instruments sound terribly out of tune with each other.

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No.  A rehearsal benefits us as much as the soloist.  The only stipulation is that they rehearse at our location.

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20 minutes is our standard prelude length.  
If the situation warrants a longer prelude, additional pieces will be performed at our discretion. Maximum prelude length performed is 30 minutes.

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We understand that weddings start late for various reasons - late arriving guests, minor mishaps, and so on.  We are willing to continue our prelude up to an additional 10 minutes, which is typically enough time to compensate for a late start.

Occasionally we book more than one event in a single day.  Because of our obligation to other clients, we cannot stay longer than the time specified on your contract.  If we have an event following yours, we will advise you and/or your wedding director of our obligations.   

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No.  We realize that most people are paying per person for their receptions, and we don't wish to add to their expense. 

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