LCQ Musician Blog

Our own clarinetist April tied the knot recently, and we couldn't have been happier to celebrate with her and her new husband at the beautiful Abbey on Fifth! Performing with April is always a blast, and getting to plan with her all of the music for her own ceremony was easy and fun. 

The Abbey is a historic building right in the heart of San Diego, in a really cool neighborhood called Bankers Hill. This vibrant district is just north of Downtown, offers a ton of amazing food and entertainment options, and is just one block from Balboa Park - so it's a perfect location for celebrations and gatherings. The vaulted cathedral ceilings, wood paneling, and amazing stained glass windows harken to a royal stately type of feel for a venue. There is even a music balcony right there above the alter where our quintet fits perfectly!

The quintet performed for prelude, and got to play for April and her wedding party while they were getting ready and still doing final touches before guests arrived. We played some meaningful music for the ceremony, and stayed up in the music loft to do an hour while cocktails were being served. LCQs wide range of music styles blended perfectly here for this event, sticking with mostly classical and softer music while guests arrived, and then more upbeat movie and jazz music for the reception. 

If you're still searching for a unique and beautiful location for a wedding, corporate event, or holiday party, look no further than the Abbey on Fifth - and give us a ring to provide some of that musical ambiance!

Our string trio had the chance to perform at The Thursday Club for their wedding open house on April 10th, 2019. It was such a good time! We got to schmooze with engaged couples, catch up with some of our favorite wedding pros, and enjoy really awesome dinner and dessert samples by some of San Diego's best catering companies!

Historically, most wedding ceremonies followed the same traditional pattern. Classical background music while guests were seated, a Handel or Vivaldi piece while the bridal party entered, Wagner's wedding march for the bride, and Mendelssohn's march for the recessional. These time tested music pieces are still hits with so many couples - there is a reason they are so popular - they work well and are recognizable to almost everyone that we are having a wedding here!

More often now, we are finding younger couples that want something a little different, more styled to their tastes in music or something that brings up a happy memory for them. What is great about our ensembles is that we are able to deliver on that request, and have acquired a large list of music that will transport you to your favorite band, a special concert, or a movie that gives you all the feels!

With a pop library that spans back to the 1960s, we've included hits from some amazing musicians, like the Jackson 5, the Beatles, Elton John, Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, Queen, and so many others. Our musical abilities also include so many different movie soundtracks including Disney and Pixar favorites as well. You have a special song in mind that we don't already have in our library - no problem, we can arrange it just for you!

We checked recently, and here is a list of the top modern/pop songs requested by our brides for wedding entrances:

1: A Thousand Years, Christina Perri, as covered by the Piano Guys
2: All You Need is Love, the Beatles
3: Tale as Old as Time, Beauty & The Beast, Alan Menken
4: Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen
5: I'm Yours, Jason Mraz
6: A Whole New World, Disney's Aladdin, Alan Menken
7: Moonlight Serenade, Glenn Miller
8: Imagine, John Lennon
9: It Had to Be You, Gus Kahn
10: You've Got a Friend in Me, Toy Story, Randy Newman

The San Diego Botanic Gardens are an oasis in the middle of Encinitas, a cute coastal town about 15 minutes north of San Diego. The gardens have a rich history, having been developed since the early 1900s on land overlooking the Pacific Ocean and incorporating a wide variety of different spaces. While you could consider this a museum for plant species, the gardens have evolved and become a spectacular event space, perfect for weddings, parties, engagements, photo shoots, and other happenings.

San Diego is full of beautiful places, where the venue itself actually becomes part of the event. Cuvier Park in La Jolla, also known as the Wedding Bowl, is certainly one of those special spots. This semi-secluded spot with some of the most iconic views that San Diego is known for might be difficult to acquire, with various permits from the City and scheduling with other events, but once secured you can be sure that you have one of the best outdoor wedding venues in San Diego!

Creepy ghouls and goblins are coming soon, followed quickly by explorers with turkey, and jolly old men in red pajamas being flown by reindeer. Yes, it's holiday season in San Diego, and while the weather here might not provide any white dusting of snow or icicles hanging from awnings, it does mean fun parties, great food, and entertaining music!

Here are some ideas for those of you trying to plan for your office or home holiday party that we have found fun, insightful, or interesting. Remember to book your live music with us as soon as you've set a date, so we can start going over the perfect playlist for your San Diego holiday party.

#1 - Make it a themed party! This is the best time of year to dress up! You can do a Charlie Brown Halloween, complete with a giant pumpkin, or a traditional Hanukkah gathering, with Maccabee fighters and lots of glowing lights.

#2 - Hire a photographer. People will be taking selfies and group shots with their phone, but only a professional photographer can capture the true feeling and mood of the event. We have many recommendations for great San Diego photographers who can help make some amazing memories!

#3 - Involve the guests! Some of the most fun parties we've performed at included "bake your own" meals or desserts, including a full pizza bar where guests could custom design their own pie! We have some tips for this type of event, and some pizza shops that can really help assist in setting this kind of party up.

#4 - Musical Chairs or Dreidel!  You'd be surprised how much adults love some of the fun games of their childhood, especially after a few drinks. Get our music rolling and the games started for an amazingly fun night that people will be telling stories about.

What's your favorite holiday party, and how did you incorporate music into it?

You've thought about everything else: the dress, the flowers, the shoes, the wedding venue...now what about the music? There are so many options when it comes to picking the entrance music to your wedding ceremony, and it's important to consider:

• What does your venue allow? Many traditional churches only want the standard repertoire when it comes to ceremonies, and don't let couples do things too out of the ordinary.
• What does your family say? While this is 100% your day, many families have long-established songs that are important that they might want to hear.
• What does your heart say? Yes, that pop song might be popular now and you can't get it out of your head, but looking back 50 years from now at your wedding video, do you want to listen to something out of date, or have accompanying songs that are completely timeless.

Whatever you choose, the Left Coast Quintet is here to provide guidance and the best music for your walk down memory lane. Your wedding ceremony music needs to be completely you, and we are at your service.

It is no secret that DJ services easily have the most amount of available music at their fingertips. The last DJ we worked with probably had about 500,000 songs ready to go in an instant, and many of those pieces covered exactly what our live music services do best- wedding ceremony music and reception background entertainment. But instead of looking at DJ services as competition, I tend to think of them as friends and assistants.

There is absolutely no substitute for live music, and every DJ knows that. The class, the eloquence, the unique abilities of live musicians bring the event up a notch in style, yet the music we provide has limits - we certainly don't have a library covering every style of music and every song that clients request. Thus, working partnerships with our electronically powered peers have enabled our ensemble, and many string quartets or solo musicians like us, to increase our offerings to our clients and provide a bit of both the classy aspect and the wide range of music options.

To find out more about our preferred DJ list for San Diego Weddings, and the combined discounts that we can offer together, please feel free to send us a message or arrange for a coffee meeting.

You may have noticed a few new pictures up on our website recently. We had an amazing weekend up in Temecula getting to bring beautiful wedding ceremony music to a beautiful couple, Matt & Elizabeth Haupert, and figured we would make some updates to our site with the gorgeous views provided to us.

Temecula is a special place. Located just about an hour north-east of San Diego, in the heart of Southern California wine country, the town is just the perfect get-away from the bustle of Southern California life. Whether coming from LA and the Inland Empire, or driving up from San Diego, the rolling hills, large estates, and numerous wineries will take anyone to a whole new level of relaxation.

For Matt & Elizabeth's special day, we found ourselves at the gorgeous Lake Oak Meadows, part of the Vitagliano Winery. Surrounded by fields of green vineyards, the main focal point is a sprawling lake with numerous perfect spots for wedding ceremonies and special moments. Large shade trees keep the temperatures down, while fountains inside of the lake provide a very calming ambiance. Our quintet set up under an amazing shade canopy, keeping the 91 degree weather at bay. We even enjoyed a nice breeze!

Our couple requested traditional wedding ceremony music, consisting of Pachelbel's Canon in D, Wagner's Wedding Processional, and Mendelssohn's Wedding March for a recessional. But, we like to have some fun, so while guests were seated prior to the ceremony, we were playing recognizable movie tunes, some older jazz pieces, and summertime favorites to get people in the mood for what became a very personal, heartfelt, and loving ceremony.

My wife and I got married in early January of this year, so talking about wedding planning is still pretty fresh on my mind. It is amazing that even three months later, we still have friends tell us how personal, thoughtful, and special our wedding was. I don't think that many people can say that their weddings went off without a hitch, normally there is some domino that doesn't fall down, or a drunk 'uncle' that wants to make an inappropriate speech, but thankfully our weekend was absolutely amazing, went off hassle free, and besides the venue briefly misplacing our cake topper, really was a magical and special event.

In our modern age of electronics, immediate delivery, and thirst for wide varieties of entertainment, it is important to step back on special occasions to evaluate exactly what you or your client is trying to achieve at their wedding. Obviously- there will be music. I have yet to see a wedding or special event that was completely silent, but I guess it could happen. But it's the type of music, how it is delivered, that will make a huge impact both to the wedding party and the guests on the special day.

Think of movies- a grand celebration scene with awards, or recognition, or happy events- there is typically a live band there, not some ipod set to shuffle. You can conjure up images of Harry Potter during the Tri-Wizard cup, or Hans Solo and Chewy walking at the Royal Award Ceremony.  Live musicians add to the elegance, the greatness, the magic of the moment that no speaker system can.

Live music brings a sense of personality to weddings as well. Each piece is going to be played a little bit differently, each musician will respond in their own way to how the composer wrote the piece, and the musicians can mirror the guests with their enthusiasm and interest in the event. Selfishly, as well- how cool is it to take wedding pictures where you've hired a group of musicians- it makes you look elegant and classy!