by Sharon Planer, Pianist for Parties

Here is a tip to put your guests in a festive mood...Hire 'live' music!

I love arriving at a venue before the party begins so that I can greet the guests with my piano music when they arrive.

At the start of a party live music is a great ice breaker and brings smiles to the faces of the guests.

As guests arrive, get their beverage, and settle into conversation, I keep my piano music light and easy going. The music creates a pleasant atmosphere without being distracting. Guests sometimes stop by the piano to request a favorite song or even want to sing along. Children seem especially attracted to songs with a lively beat...for their dancing feet! If the event is a cocktail reception, upbeat jazzy holiday tunes create the perfect musical setting. If a sit down dinner is part of the event, I play quiet elegant holiday piano music while the guests are dining.

Guests often love to gather around the piano to sing their favorite Christmas carols. I have my songbooks ready to hand out for just that occasion!

Activities that involve music are a great form of entertainment.

'The Twelve Days of Christmas'. If some of the guests have a dramatic flair, selecting 12 people to act out 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' while the rest of the guests sing the song can really get the action going. Providing appropriate props can add to the fun or you can encourage your 12 participants to use their imagination in acting out their part of the song. You might be surprised by the crazy and creative ideas they come up with!

'Frosty the Snowman' .  This activity involves TP (yes, toilet paper...clean, please!). This can be done as several teams or as one activity. Each team selects one participant that will be their 'Frosty'.  When the song begins, each team will 'decorate' their Frosty with toilet paper and whatever items they can find to make their 'Frosty' look the most clever or original. The 'decorating' ends when the music stops. Guests vote on the winner. Have a prize for the team that wins....a bag of candy is an easy prize.

Musical Dice Game. Ask each guest to bring an inexpensive wrapped gift. Everyone sits in a circle, with all the wrapped presents on the floor in the middle. Players take turns rolling two dice on a pie plate. If your group is large you can use several pie plates each with a pair of dice. Start the plates going different directions. Have your musician play some lively holiday music.

If a player rolls a double, that person gets to pick a gift from the middle. The dice continue around the circle until all the gifts have been taken. At this time everyone that has a gift opens it. Going around the circle, those with gifts hold up the gift and explain what it is. They set their gift on the floor in front of them so everyone can see what they have. Set the timer to the length of time you want (10-15 minutes is decent). Ask your musician play some lively holiday music until the timer goes off. Send the dice around the circle as long as the music is playing. If a player rolls a double, he gets to steal a gift. Keep the dice going until timer goes off and the music stops. Anyone with more than one gift keeps only one gift and puts the rest in the middle. Those without a gift move their chairs in to make a smaller circle and continue the dice rolling (with music!) until each of them has won a gift.

Planning a 'Winter Party' is a good alternative if you wish to avoid religious connotations of a Christmas Party. 

Some clients, especially corporate clients, are sensitive about hosting a holiday party that reflects religious views. In order to make all guests feel included and comfortable, the client may want to keep the music and party plans secular in nature.  Hosting a party with a 'Winter' theme is a good approach. I always ask the event planner to let me know what music I am allowed to play. Some clients ask me to only play secular holiday music and avoid Christmas carols. A few clients have even asked me to avoid songs that reference St. Nick. Even though this limits my repertoire, I am respectful of such requests. If the event is longer than an hour, I will ask if I can include some non holiday music.

The enthusiasm and joyous spirit of the guests makes Christmas parties great fun to play for!  You can listen to several samples of my holiday piano music on my 'Listen' page.

'Tis the Season to Make Music!

Have you enjoyed some fun holiday party activities that involve music? Share your ideas in the comment box below.  

A family member asked me to provide piano music for a memorial service. A young adult wanted to honor her great grandfather by singing a special song that she had learned as a school choral piece. The song is called, 'Farvel' (farewell), aka 'You Will Always be in My Heart'. The poem was written by Halvor Langslet in 1899 and the music was composed by Daniel Pederson (copyright 2007). This was a new song to me and it turned out to be so beautiful and perfect for the service!  I just had to share it here. There is no recording of our performance, but I found a YouTube recording as a choral performance. You can read the lyrics and story in the image below this clip.

by Sharon Planer, Pianist for Parties

When I received a phone call from a gentleman who needed a pianist to provide piano accompaniment for an opera singer from Albuquerque, I was immediately intrigued! 

The event was a memorial service for the gentleman's mother.  He lived in Albuquerque and his mother had spent the last several years of her life there as well. She had lived most of her adult life in a lovely home deep in the woods on the shores of one of Minnesota's beautiful lakes and the family wished to host her service in this beautiful setting!

A particular opera singer, Denise Wernly, had become a favorite performer of the mother and family while in Albuquerque. Denise was invited to come to Minnesota to perform for the memorial service....and to the family's delight, she agreed!  She sent me her music ahead of time and arrived a day before the event giving us a chance to practice together. 

The family put a lot of thought into the music choices. The service began with Bach/Gounod's 'Ave Maria' followed by 'Pie Jesu' from Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Requiem Mass'.

Denise's voice soared and the guests were touched with the emotion and beauty of the music.

The beautiful setting of the home reflected a place where many of the guests had spent time and had wonderful memories. Some of the guests shared their personal memories during the service.

'Silent Night' is not a typical song to be performed for a funeral or memorial service, but this song had particular importance and was the concluding piece.  

The guests were then treated to some lighter musical fare with the beautiful melody of 'La Vie en Rose'. The atmosphere really came alive with some opera favorites . . . 'Voi che Sapete' from Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro' followed by 'Habanera' and 'Seguidilla' from Bizet's 'Carmen'.  

It was a pleasure to provide piano accompaniment for Denise. I enjoyed her music and talent immensely!  Her music and the thoughtful comments of the guests memories made this service a unique and beautiful celebration of a life of a special woman who will live on in the hearts of many.