Kuwait 2011

In January, the Nero String Quartet jetted off to Kuwait to take part in the 17th Qurain festival, a cultural festival held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. 

The concert took place at Abdul Aziz Hussein Theatre, Mishref on 18th of January.  Our programme included excerpts from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Dvorak's American String Quartet, Mozart's The Hunt and Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers.  Prior to going onstage, we were interviewed by local press and had some photographs taken.  The concert was a sell-out, and judging by videos taken during our performance, it was enjoyed by all.  On some recordings, it is possible to hear the audience clapping and singing along!  We really enjoyed the show and our hard work definitely paid off.  Straight after the concert, we were swept away to a private reception where we were treated to a delicious banquet and cool mango smoothies.  Unfortunately, we could not stay for too long as we had a very early start the next day.

At 6am, the following morning, we were having breakfast in ballgowns and full stage make-up ready for our appearance on Good Morning Kuwait.  Luckily, the television studio was not too far from the hotel we were staying and when we arrived, we were given strong tea (thank goodness!) and suddenly, we were on set! We met the presenter of the show who immediately made us feel most welcome.  The set was great, our backdrop was a tropical beach!  We had a GREAT time on the show, playing three times in total, and we are extremely excited by the international enquiries we have received since our Middle-Eastern trip!

March!

What an incredible month it's been!  We've been all over this month, visiting old favourites of ours: Rowton Castle, Prestwold Hall, Dunchurch Park Hotel, Moxhull Hall and Ettington Park Hotel.  We have revisited some truly gorgeous venues: Ansty Hall, Nunsmere Hall, Newton Park Hotel, Ettington Chase, Eastnor Castle and Hampton Manor, and also visited some venues for the first time, such as: The Merchant Taylor's Hall in London and The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Liverpool.

We have also been busy with even more new repertoire!  Feeling Good (Nina Simone), It Must Be Love (Madness), Bad Romance (Lady Gaga), Kashmir (Led Zeppelin), May It Be (Enya), Take My Breath Away (Berlin), The Wonder Of You (Elvis), I Think We're Alone Now (Tiffany), Isn't She Lovely (Stevie Wonder), Like A Prayer (Madonna), One (Metallica), Teenage Wasteland (The Who) and She's Always A Woman (Billy Joel).  Phew!  We have been having some seriously fun rehearsals with all the new music!

Talking of serious fun, we have just had a photo shoot!  We are currently busy assembling some new publicity material, but here's a preview taken at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

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"Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, we have just returned form our honey moon. Just wanted to say how much we loved the trio at our wedding, especially in the pavilion. A few of our guests said how it felt like they were on the titanic! The music, food ect was just perfect. Our day was wonderful, so thanks for being part of that.  Thanks for playing at our wedding, the day was just magical :)"

    Natalie, New Hall Hotel 

"Just a quick email to say how beautiful the music was for our day. I'm really sorry we didnt get to speak to you (the day went by in a blur!). The music was simply stunning and made our day perfect. All our guests commented on how it made both the ceremony and time afterwards feel so relaxed. I will, without question be recommending you to anyone who asks and if we can leave a comment on the website we will do so. Thanks once again and maybe we will meet again at a friend or relatives wedding!"

 Anthony and Alex, Curradine Barns

 "Now back at my desk I just wanted to say thank you very much for Nero's performance during our evening at Ettington Chase on Wednesday.  I'm sorry I missed the opportunity to say this in person on the night!  So, please take this as the round of applause you would have received for the beautiful music you played throughout."

Janis, Ettington Chase

"I was so pleased with the service that I received from the Nero String Quartet for our wedding - I loved the fact that you really listened to what we wanted, and were really accommodating.  I got so many compliments from the guests - your performance was flawless and I couldn't have been happier.  I especially loved you accompanying our hymns, and the fact that you'd learnt them specifically for our day.  I genuinely wouldn't hesitate in recommending you to anyone, and will certainly be contacting you again if we ever arrange any other events.  Thank you for everything!" 

Mrs Pip Fanning, Dunchurch Park

 "We're now back from honeymoon so I thought I'd drop you a quick e-mail to pass on our thanks to the quartet for the work you did for us on our wedding day.  We received many postitive comments from our guests and we were also very impressed by the quality of your work and the atmosphere that the quartet created at both the church and wedding breakfast. It was certainly money well spent and contributed to what was a great day.Thanks again and all the best."

 Matt, Crowne Plaza Liverpool

"I wanted to say thank you for playing at our wedding. I'm looking forward to seeing the recording of you as I was so nervous I blocked everything out. My husband said how good you were and really set the mood."

Danielle, Prestwold Hall

The Designer Vintage Bridal Show

The Designer Vintage Bridal Show took place in February and was most definitely a highlight for us.  Located at the lovely Highbury Hall in Moseley, it was strewn with vintage glamour!  We saw dresses to DIE for by Jenni Packham, Tobi Hannah, Lindsay Fleming and Kate Edmondson, we met some really great suppliers like: Lorna Roberts Photography, image consultant Emily Jane, photographers Liezl Croft and James Crockford, and our personal favourite (the lovely, scrumptious lemon cake they gave us has something to do with that...) Caroline's Cake Company.  Yum.

There was so much to see!  On the way in, we met Audrey, a beautiful vintage caravan supplied by Vintage Glamour Days which can be hired to serve drinks (our cellist is definitely going to have one at her wedding!), we were serenaded by vintage tunes courtesy of Sugarfoot Stomp and we literally had to tear our violinst/magpie away from the gorgeous accessories at Laurel Lime!

We had a great weekend at the fayre.  If you are interested in future Designer Vintage Bridal events, you can sign up to receive the newsletter at the website.