Event & Wedding Performance Solo Violin, Duos, Trios, Ensembles
In addition to performing in concert, I enjoy helping to make the special occasions in my clients' lives even more memorable and unique with violin (or viola) performance to fit the mood, moment to moment. Since 1998, my colleagues and I have provided sweet, soulful, and sassy music for thousands of events and venues around the California Central Coast (Monterey, Santa Cruz, Big Sur, etc.) and the San Francisco Bay Area, including weddings, cocktail hours and receptions, marriage proposals, corporate or holiday/themed events, memorials, art gallery openings, parties, and house concerts.
My event repertoire features diverse genres and can be performed on solo violin or accompanied by a variety of duo, trio, or ensemble configurations. We look forward to helping make your event a success!
My event repertoire features diverse genres and can be performed on solo violin or accompanied by a variety of duo, trio, or ensemble configurations. We look forward to helping make your event a success!
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With choices ranging from Classical, Pop, Rock, and R&B, to Jazz, Latin, Country, Bluegrass, Celtic, and Folk, I love "finding the voice of the violin" across diverse styles of music, an interest reflected in my expansive song lists and my ability to effortlessly change gears as an event may demand - from elegant Classical favorites to rousing fiddle tunes, introspective Pop ballads to groovy Jazz, Rock, and Blues classics.
However, beyond the setlist and the performance are other elements that help make hosting live music a success. Performing professionally since I was a teenager, I strive to create a focal point of not only beautiful music, but professionalism and poise, marrying my decades of performance experience with my thoughtful, intuitive, and accommodating personality.
With dozens of 5 star reviews on popular wedding platforms, including WeddingWire, GigSalad, and Zola, my performance services carrying the industry standard $2 million liability insurance, competitive rates, and a variety of options and packages to choose from, clients and promoters can rest assured that they're in good hands!
However, beyond the setlist and the performance are other elements that help make hosting live music a success. Performing professionally since I was a teenager, I strive to create a focal point of not only beautiful music, but professionalism and poise, marrying my decades of performance experience with my thoughtful, intuitive, and accommodating personality.
With dozens of 5 star reviews on popular wedding platforms, including WeddingWire, GigSalad, and Zola, my performance services carrying the industry standard $2 million liability insurance, competitive rates, and a variety of options and packages to choose from, clients and promoters can rest assured that they're in good hands!
Choosing Ensemble Type: A Music First Approach
It’s nice to have options! When deciding upon the instrumentation for a new song or piece, songwriters and composers consider the musical style they’re writing in, the inherent sound of each instrument, the roles each instrument typically plays within an ensemble, and the playability of a part on a given instrument. For music quality that your guests will be talking about for years to come, along with considerations like venue and guest list size, budget, event length, and whether or not the group will be acoustic or amplified, it’s helpful to think like a composer when booking a musical act. A violinist can perform solo or be accompanied by a range of instruments; however, for music that is rich, convincing, and memorable, it's important, and unfortunately rather revolutionary, to consider the music first, then book the instrumentation.
It's all too common within the event music industry for clients to book their desired instrumentation but choose the music later on. The result is too often a last minute scramble to try to find decent arrangements and make magic with a configuration of players that aren't actually well suited to perform the requested songs. To avoid this, Laurel asks clients to identify at least a few key songs or the genre they wish to feature at the start of the booking process. From there we’ll be able to confidently book the instrumentation and musicians that will make your favorite songs come to life.
Please click a topic to learn more.
Choosing Music
Many clients identify a genre or range of genres, an era of music, or a feel they wish to convey at their event, and beyond that we work our magic. If clients want to make their own music selections, my event repertoire page lists popular event and wedding music currently available. If you don't see a piece you'd like to include at your event, with enough notice most any song can be learned, though an extra fee may apply. If you aren't sure where to start, I am happy to help with any part of the music selection process.For weddings and other personal occasions such as marriage proposals, memorials, and birthday parties, there are no set rules for the selection of music. Whether we choose traditional Classical music, contemporary Pop, or something strikingly unique, most important is how the music will set the mood for your special occasion.
For a truly exceptional experience, clients booking me as a solo violinist, my violin-guitar duo, or my violin-guitar-double bass trio, my colleagues and I are also available to compose an original instrumental song in the genre of your choice for your event. Please contact me for more details, samples of our work, and a quote, and allow at least three months lead time to write and prepare the piece.
Outdoor Event Considerations
Weather by the Pacific ocean is always changing. For as many beautiful locations as we have for weddings and other events around the California Central Coast, from the beaches, wineries, and private estates of Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur, to the ocean view terraces and redwood groves of Santa Cruz, to San Jose's Rose Garden and San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, there are just as many weather patterns and micro-climates.Please be aware that stringed instruments are made of fine wood and may be ruined if exposed to extreme weather conditions; this includes precipitation, hot sun, and cold temperatures. Windy conditions unfortunately also make it hard to keep the bow on the strings and the sheet music on the stand!
For outdoor events we require a flat and also shaded performance space (canopy, umbrella, tree, overhang, etc.) to protect our instruments from sun damage and/or drizzle, and we reserve the right to cancel services if an indoor location is not possible in the event of inclement weather.
Interested in booking Laurel and her colleagues for your event?
Please email me at laurel@laurelthomsen.com or call or text me at 831-224-0913. Note: if you have a Yahoo email address, I highly recommend that you text or call versus email me to ensure my response doesn't get lost in your spam. Meanwhile, you could also try following these steps in your Yahoo mail app.
For answers to common questions about booking, you can also visit my Event Music Q&A page.
When reaching out, in your initial message please include:
- Event type
- Event location - including whether indoors or out
- Event date and timeframe (or time estimate)
- Desired instrumentation/ensemble - if you're not sure, helpful info would be the size of the guest list and the space
- Key song requests or the genre(s) you're most interested in featuring (in order to suggest the best ensemble fit for that music)
From there we can determine availability, ensemble options, music selection, and provide a quote, or set of quotes, covering the specifics of your event. When you are ready to book, returning my event agreement (provided after ironing out the basic details) and paying a 50% deposit will secure the date.
We look forward to helping make your event a success!
Laurel ThomsenViolin, Viola, Vocals
Performance, Instruction, Recording
Based in Santa Cruz, California
"After the Fire" - released January 21, 2022!
We began recording this album in late July 2020, under California’s Covid–19 stay-at-home order, in Dan’s Bonny Doon home studio, The Shed. We were wrapping up by mid-August, but then a heatwave and extremely unusual lightning storm sparked a fast-moving forest fire. Completed after our evacuation to the safe haven of a friend’s home, After the Fire marks the end of an era and a fresh start; Dan’s little studio burned the morning after he’d rescued the rough tracks, studio equipment, and a range of instruments we play, yet rarely have the space to bring with us on the road. Highlighting them on this album helped us feel the joy of performing again and to know that despite the setbacks of the past year, our music will thrive in new ways.
Each song portrays a facet of the journey from setback to reclaimed hope - finding faith in the possibility of LOVE in “Make Me Come Alive,” HOME in “Beale Street,” COMMUNITY in “Together Again” and “Money Shouldn’t Talk That Strong,” and one’s own STRENGTH and FORTITUDE in “If A Wave” and “Hey, It’ll Be OK.”
Each song portrays a facet of the journey from setback to reclaimed hope - finding faith in the possibility of LOVE in “Make Me Come Alive,” HOME in “Beale Street,” COMMUNITY in “Together Again” and “Money Shouldn’t Talk That Strong,” and one’s own STRENGTH and FORTITUDE in “If A Wave” and “Hey, It’ll Be OK.”