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Esmé BerghViolinistI Love My Violin, home

Get an estimate

I am Esmé Bergh, a wedding and event violinist in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Greater Vancouver, with more than 3,000 songs in my book.

Tell me the venue, the date and how long you want music, and I will show you a figure and what it covers. You see the number before I ask who you are, and nothing here takes a payment.

A wedding starts at R2,200 for the first hour in South Africa and CAD 500 in Canada. Funerals, church services, private functions, restaurants and retirement villages are priced differently, and the estimate below works out your own figure from the venue, the date and the hours you want.

The venue needs to be in South Africa or Canada.

The venue sets the country, the currency and the travel, so it needs to be a real place.

When does the music play *

If the day breaks into a ceremony and a reception, add a second set rather than stretching one across the gap.

2 hours of playing.

The date is not held until I reply, so do not stop looking on the strength of a number on a screen.

This prices solo violin. For a duo, trio or quartet, or a day split across two venues, send me the details and I will price it myself.

Songs you would like

Search my book first. Anything already in it is free and there is no limit on how many you choose. If a song is not there I can learn it, and the first 3 of those are included as well.

How the number is built

  • The playing. A first hour, then each further half hour. More players costs more, but not proportionally, because the booking overhead is shared.
  • Travel. Priced from whichever of my two home bases your venue is nearest, with a distance around each one included at no charge.
  • A bed, when the drive says so. Far enough away, or finishing late enough, and driving home alone at midnight with an instrument in the boot stops being sensible.
  • Songs I have to learn. Anything from my songbook is free and unlimited. A new arrangement is a fixed piece of work and is priced as one.
  • Short notice. In Canada, inside two weeks there is a surcharge, and it applies to the playing only, never to travel or a hotel bill. South African bookings carry none.

What a wedding costs where you are: Wedding violinist in Johannesburg and Pretoria, Wedding violinist in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.