Solo piano
A pianist for cocktails, dinners and galas.
A pianist through arrival, cocktails and dinner, standards and covers at a level the table talks across, with a voice added when the evening wants singing. This is the booking for a hotel ballroom or a client dinner.
Think the doors of a gala while the guests find their tables, a client dinner for thirty in a private dining space, the dinner half of a company holiday party in a ballroom, a Sunday brunch at a club, or the prelude at a memorial where the chapel has a piano. It’s one musician, it fits in a corner, and nobody has to face it.
Footage slot
Trusted and booked by
A sample of the set
Pulled from the full song list on the repertoire page: the songs that sit under arrival and dinner. A set is built around the flow of your evening, and this is a sample rather than the whole list.
Arrival
- Blackbird The Beatles
- Mother Nature's Son The Beatles
- The Man in Me Bob Dylan
- Three Little Birds Bob Marley
- Stir It Up Bob Marley
- Wild World Cat Stevens
Dinner
- Blackbird The Beatles
- Yesterday The Beatles
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps The Beatles
- Eleanor Rigby The Beatles
- Rocky Raccoon The Beatles
- The Times They Are A-Changin' Bob Dylan
A sample. The whole song list is on the repertoire page.
The booking
One musician, the piano, and a voice when you want one.
- The piano
- When the venue has a piano, the pianist plays it, and a hotel lobby or a club dining space usually does. When it doesn’t, a stage piano comes with the booking through the sound support every act carries, and nobody at the table hears the difference.
- With a voice
- On its own the piano is instrumental, and that’s the version most client dinners and galas book. When the evening wants singing, a voice joins for a set or for the night, and the booking stays one line on the contract.
- The footprint
- A 6 by 4 foot corner, one dedicated 20-amp circuit, a 45-minute load-in and a 30-minute strike when the piano travels with us. A venue’s own piano needs none of that, only the tuning the venue already keeps up.
It plays at 65 to 72 dBA at the nearest table for the whole booking, and a pianist can’t drift up to dance floor volume, which is the reason organisers ask for one by name for the dinner where the talking is the point.
Footprints and power by size are on the technical page. When the night wants a floor after dinner, a band or the DJ takes the same sound system on the same contract.
Occasions
Common occasions for a pianist.
- Client dinners and member events
- Twenty at one table or eighty at ten, where the conversation is the event and the music sits under it all night. The client dinners page covers the volume, the paperwork and the private dining spaces that book this.
- Galas and award nights
- The doors, while guests find their tables, and dinner at conversation volume before the program. The galas page walks through the evening, and gala entertainment ideas has the small dinner where the piano is the whole evening.
- The low-key company dinner
- The holiday party that’s a dinner rather than a floor, or the January reset. The holiday party page carries the season, and January office party ideas puts the piano dinner beside the other formats.
- Brunch, memorials and senior living
- A Sunday jazz brunch at a club or a hotel, the prelude at a memorial service where the chapel has a piano, a standing afternoon at a senior living community. The brunch, memorial and senior living pages each have the booking in their own terms.
- Dinner parties at home
- A house with a piano in it, and a table of twelve. Private parties covers the sizes and what a home needs, which for a pianist is a piano or a corner and one outlet.
Booking it
An hour of cocktails, or arrival through dessert.
The pianist books for a single hour or for the whole front of the evening, and pairs with a jazz duo for a bigger crowd or a band for the floor afterward on the same contract.
Sound support that’s the right size for the venue is included, which for a piano means a stage piano and a small system when the venue has neither, and nothing at all when it has a grand in the lobby. A dedicated announcement microphone is ready for the toast or the remarks. If the dinner runs long, another half hour is easy to add on the night.
Send the date, the venue and the headcount, and we’ll come back with a recommendation. What live music costs in this market.
Pianist questions
The operational questions, from substitutions to decibel caps, are on the full question list.
- What does the pianist play?
- Standards and covers: the Great American Songbook through the songs on the site's own list that sit under arrival and dinner, played at a level the table talks across. Tell us the evening and the set leans jazz, leans pop, or moves between the two as the night goes on, and the first learned song is included in every booking.
- Does the venue need a piano?
- No. When the venue has a piano, the pianist plays it. When it doesn't, a stage piano comes with the booking through the sound support every act carries, and it sets up in a 6 by 4 foot corner on one dedicated 20-amp circuit with a 45-minute load-in.
- Can we add a singer?
- Yes. A voice joins the piano for a set or for the night when the evening wants singing, and it stays one line on the contract. On its own the piano is instrumental, which is the version most client dinners and galas book.
- How loud is it?
- Conversation volume, 65 to 72 dBA at the nearest table, for the whole booking. A pianist can't drift up to dance floor volume, which is the reason organisers ask for one by name for a dinner where the talking is the point.
- Can solo piano carry a whole evening?
- Arrival, cocktails and dinner, yes, and that is most of a client dinner or a gala. When the night wants a floor after dinner, a band or the DJ takes over on the same contract and the same sound system, so the piano is the first half of one booking rather than a separate vendor.
Book a pianist for cocktails and dinner.
Live music for your event, from a solo musician to a full band, with sound support that’s the right size for the venue and a personal contact for the night.
Send us the date and the venue, and we’ll come back with a recommendation and a price for your night. What live music costs in this market is on the pricing page.