Favorite Songs for October

by | Oct 17, 2011 | Uncategorized

As “Chicago’s favorite strolling violinist”, I am always amazed by the musical requests during this time of year and I am equally amazed that people really don’t have a favorite so they request that I pick one of mine. With over 500 songs memorized (actually I stopped counting when I got to 500!), I had to come up with a few favorites. I thought if you ever needed to request a song from a strolling violinist, this list would be most helpful!
My top ten musical requests ffrom my audiences have been (and personal favorites, too!)…
1. Autumn from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
2. Autumn Leaves
3. October Sky
4. Moonlight in Vermont
5. September Song
6. Memories from Cats
7. Moonglow and other Halloween favorites – please see my post for the “Dead Composers Society Orchestra”…click here
8. Anything to do with Columbus Day – Lady of Spain, Italian medleys
9. Let Me Call You Sweetheart – for Sweetest Day
10. Anything by Charles Ives whose birthday is October 20th (requested by my husband and mega Ives fan, Chicago band leader, Roy Vombrack)

Upcoming performances for Strings of Silk

by | Oct 11, 2011 | Uncategorized

Autumn Adoration – Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. at Belmont Village in Buffalo Grove. Jennifer will be entertaining residents and their guests with songs of the season, requests and classical favorites!
Sweetest Day Serenade – Thursday, October 13th, 2011 5 p.m. at the Westbury Health Center in Lisle, Illinois Being requested back now for five years, Jennifer will be strolling during a Sweetest Day dinner for residents and their guests throughout the facility.

Musician to Musician – A tutorial

by | Sep 27, 2011 | Uncategorized

It has come to my attention that what has been easy for me to figure out, might come in handy for other musicians who perform for weddings. I have heard, “don’t tell them your trade secrets” – if it makes us all look good, then why not? I wish I had a teacher like me! I hope this helps…
When performing music for a wedding ceremony, the most important thing is to get the music in the correct order and for it to flow smoothly.
Here is what I recommend – Put photocopies of the originals of the music in the FRONT of a 3 ring binder, followed by whatever the selected pre-ceremony music is, followed by extra pre-ceremony music A-Z.
When it’s “show time”, just flip to the front of the book and everything is in the correct order. No sticky tabs to find or extra books to mess with!

September is Classical Music Appreciation Month

by | Sep 22, 2011 | Uncategorized

“Strings and Sings” was the wonderfully entertaining presentation given to promote Classical Music Appreciation Month at the Village of Victory Lakes in Lindenhurst by violinist/violist Jennifer Silk and cellist/soprano Wendy Cotton on Tuesday, September 20th. It was such a hit with the residents and their guests that the title has been changed to “Classical Music-Making Appreciation Month”!