What a lovely evening indeed performing at the National Liberal Club in London. The acoustics of The David Lloyd George Room where I have sung for this specific corporate event was splendid. There is a grand piano available for piano players and there is also a microphone available for jazz, pop or opera singers. The organiser wanted me to perform a mix of musical styles such as pop, dance, jazz and opera music. on this occasion I have not used the piano as I have been singing with backing tracks. What I love most and think I can offer more that any other singer out there is the fact that I can sing a variety of music repertoire and I can be very flexible especially if the organiser already has a specific idea in mind. If the client has no preference, I am very happy to put a song list together based on the theme of the event. The only thing that I would stress on paying attention to is… keeping track of time. If you know the event takes place in 6 or 3 months, organise everything in advance - do not leave it to the last minute. Obviously I am happy to take a corporate event booking at the last minute but that would mean any discussion on the repertoire list would be shorter than usual and my wish is to make my client feel comfortable, trust and leave it all up to me.

Most of these places that are rented out for events such as these would not include a sound engineer. There is some basic sound equipment but mainly for speeches. If you are looking to have a singer, you must have a sound engineer too. The reason why these places will not offer you a sound engineer is because it is very expensive. If you decide to look out for a sound engineer at last minute - it will be even more expensive. This is why I always ask more questions about the venue, the music equipment and if there is a sound engineer. If you do not - everything will be fine! You would not have known this anyway until I might have asked about it. I am here for the rescue - I have my own team who can cover this at an additional reasonable price. 

Some clients, believe they have an idea in mind but cannot tell any of the songs they wish me to sing - that is perfectly normal! They would usually ask for a week or so to put something together but it seems harder than they imagined. We hear a song at some point and think:" I will have that song for my event" then you hear another song some months later  and you would say the same thing. By the time your event is close, you consciously decide to have a singer and try to remember the songs you thought were amazing for your event, you would have already forgotten them. Make sure you note the song's titles down!

Coming back to my corporate event at the White Hall - one would say they have no idea about opera music whatsoever. On this occasion the audience admitted had no idea about opera. Once I have sung "Sempre Libera" from “La Traviata” they immediately recognised it. Opera music still reigns… is respected and known to many people even if they don’t actively listen to it.  In order to surprise everybody, I sung the opera song last. I certainly did!  Usually when there is a singer at an event,  the singer merges into the background while the guests mingle and decide on important business deals. I sang pop, dance, jazz songs but once I sang the opera song, everyone stopped and watched in admiration. It seemed they had a lovely little treat for the evening. The echo on the White Hall Street, White Hall Place, Horse Guards Avenue reinforced the sound of the event and made the trespassers enjoy the music too. White Hall is very close to Southbank and the River Thames.  I wonder if one could still hear something on the benches or in the restaurants facing the river on a nice evening out… This event was also reasonably close to Westminster, Covent Garden and Mayfair. It felt so magical singing in the heart of London on a hot summer evening.