Flute/Cello and Harp Duo at the Ameristar Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado
/I was recently hired to play both flute and cello for an elegant Secret Garden high rollers dinner at the Ameristar Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado. I was accompanied by a harpist, and I alternated playing my flute and cello to vary the sound and mood. I taught myself to play treble clef on the cello in the two weeks before the performance so that I could switch between the two instruments using the same sheet music.
The room was lavishly decorated with flowers and mysteriously lit to create a magical fairy-like effect, and and we wore white togas and ivy crowns in our hair to fit with the secret garden theme. The sumptuous dinner was accompanied by a theatrical act in three parts, and we performed our music from the balcony between acts. We played airy classical and contemporary music which we enhanced with ethereal improvisations.
The set that we were on was actually a scaffolding that we had to climb up into using a rolling ladder. It was quite wobbly up there, but we did get more used to it as time went on, and we had a great view of the room!