HCM's Anna Harris in the News

HCM's Anna Harris was the feature of an article in the Hagerstown Hearld Mail this month. Anna has joined the Maryland Symphony Orchestra's administrative staff as the Operations Manager and Education Coordinator. The MSO is a professional orchestra in Western Maryland which HCM musicians perform with regularly. Anna will be responsible for overseeing all rehearsal and performance schedules, venue rentals, musician's contracts, guest artist travel and itineraries, production budgets and vendor contracts. She will also plan and coordinate all of the MSO's extensive educational programs and activities. On top of all that, Anna will continue to be cellist for HCM performing regularly at HCM events. Congrats to Anna, and don't forget to check out her article which features a blurb on HCM!

Intimate to Grandiose ~ HCM's January Events

HCM started off 2010 with a lovely wedding at one of our favorite venues, the charming Elkridge Furnace Inn. Barb Eaton and Dave Centineo tied the knot on January 1, 2010 in an intimate ceremony under the tent. A former music major, Barb had a fantastic music lineup, ranging from Debussy, Haydn, Bach and Delibes. Barb and Dave sent us this fantastic note after the wedding!

~We wanted to thank you for the pleasure of having Hill Chamber Music play at our wedding ceremony on New Years Day! You brought joy to our day, happiness to our hearts, and warmth to our lives with your music. I can't begin to tell you how many rave reviews we received after the ceremony! I also wanted to personally thank you for being so accommodating on such a short time frame and all your fabulous guidance and support. I would have lost my head without you! Thank you for being a part of our future together!

January 2 was Beatles Day for HCM! Chris Prater and Deann Gavney were married at The Villa, and this fun couple had us perform an all Beatles postlude for their receiving line. The trio had a blast as Chris and Deann's guests danced down the line to the likes of "Yellow Submarine" and "When I'm 64"! January 2 also saw HCM at the nuptials for Molly Legg and Tucker Meneely at the beautiful Marikle Chapel. Molly and Tucker had an all Beatles Wedding, processing in to "In My Life" and "Real Love" and then recessing out to "All You Need Is Love".

HCM next headed over to Cassie Smoot and Mark Menikheim's wedding on January 9th at the fabulous Engineers Club. A long standing favorite venue for us, we were thrilled to get to work with site coordinator Asha Hislop again. Asha is FABULOUS, and for anyone looking for a site and coordinator, these are two that top our list.

January 10th saw HCM at Valerie Lagrome's wedding at the Sheraton. We loved the colorful origami butterflies and flowers that Valerie selected, creating a personal and charming theme to this event! That evening, HCM was honored to be a part of the intimate vows exchanged between Shannon Dochney and Chris LaRoche at Chase Court. This nine guest event didn't leave a dry eye in the house, as the emotional moment between Shannon and Chris was palpable. This lovely couple took the time to come talk to us and thank us for their special song, "Lucky" which has become a new favorite for the HCM musicians.

January 16th was another busy day for HCM. Susan McClure and Keith Sullivan tied the knot at another HCM favorite, the Belvedere. Susan added true class to her event with a wonderful solo vocalist performing "The Lord's Prayer" with our trio. That same evening, Ashley Reeder and Christopher Therkildsen had the HCM quartet perform for their ceremony and cocktail hour at the gorgeous George Peabody Library. This event was styled by the very talented Stephanie Bradshaw. We were truly amazed by Stephanie's work, from the backdrops, to the flowers, to the bridal party couture ~ the effect was glorious! Michael Clark Photographers took some amazing pictures of this event, which we will post as soon as they are ready. This will certainly be an event to inspire future brides!

Next up, HCM has a private concert at Roland Park Place on January 20th. We are looking forward to performing for the residents there! If you are interested in meeting HCM members in person and hearing some music, stop by the open house at the Cloisters Castle on January 30th from 11:00-4:00. We will be handing out information and CD samples as well as answering questions and giving live demos.

A Few Favorites from 2009

We have had a busy fall season and end to 2009 over here at Hill Chamber Music. The musicians have been jetting around Maryland and the DC area, performing at our favorite sites as well as some memorable new venues. We finished up 2009 with two events on New Year's Eve, the first at the gorgeous Gramercy Mansion and then a wonderful evening wedding and cocktail hour overlooking the harbor at the Marriott Waterfront. The view of the New Year's Eve fireworks was ideal from this amazing wedding location! We have had such a wonderful time working with all of our 2009 couples and wanted to share a few thoughtful notes we have received and some favorite memories captured in photos. Thank you for a great 2009!

Shane and Jess Ardo sent us this lovely note after their fabulous September wedding at Gertrude's, one of our favorite wedding venues!

~ Thank you so much for playing so beautifully at our wedding last weekend. You and the other musicians did a fantastic job - it was just what we wanted!



Lori and Eric Lee sent us a beautiful note personalized with gorgeous calligraphy after their October event at the Towson Golf and Country Club.

~ Eric and I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the three of you for performing at our wedding ceremony. You all are extremely talented and we are so thankful you were able to share your talents with us and all of our guests. Thank you for the beautiful arrangements you put together for the prelude and I absolutely adored my entrance to Canon - what I've always wanted! Thank you again for being a part of our ceremony.