Orchestra hire in Australia: the complete guide

Most people who search for this do not want sixty players. They want the sound of strings and a bit of grandeur at a specific moment, and the good news is that a twelve or sixteen piece string ensemble delivers most of that feeling in a room that could never hold a full symphony orchestra. Working out which end of that scale you are actually after is the first job, and it changes everything downstream.

The figures below come from the acts listed here, which range from small chamber groups upwards, so read them as a scale rather than a single market. Compare the location and size of each ensemble before asking about travel, because moving an orchestra is a different undertaking from sending a quartet.

There is a ladder here and it is worth knowing before you enquire. A small string group covers a ceremony or a reception without needing a stage. A chamber orchestra of around sixteen to twenty players fills a large room and can accompany a singer properly. A full orchestra with winds, brass and percussion is a concert-scale undertaking that needs a concert-scale venue.

Every step up that ladder multiplies the fee, the stage area, the setup time and the number of chairs somebody has to put out. Ask the act to describe the smallest version that would still give you the effect you are imagining, and be open to the answer, because they will often talk you down and be right to.

Space is the harder one, because money can sometimes be found and a ceiling cannot. Players need chairs, stands, room for bows and enough depth that the back desks are not in a corridor. Percussion and harp take floor area that surprises people. If your venue's stage is a low platform at one end of a function room, you are looking at a chamber group, and no amount of budget changes that.

Budget is the honest second gate. Every musician on that stage is paid, and there is no version of this where a large ensemble is inexpensive. If the figures below are beyond what you have, the useful move is to go smaller rather than to keep asking, because a well-played string group at the right size sounds far better than an underpaid large one.

The work divides fairly cleanly. Weddings and ceremonies want strings for the walk in, the signing and the arrivals, at a size that fits the room. Galas, awards nights and anniversaries want the visual impact of a large ensemble on a stage as much as the sound, which is a fair reason to book one. Corporate launches and civic occasions use them to say that this event is significant.

There is also accompaniment work, which is a specific and slightly different job. An orchestra backing a singer, a choir or a film screening needs charts written for that combination and a rehearsal with the soloist, and both of those are lead-time items rather than things that can be arranged in a fortnight.

Anything above a small ensemble usually needs somebody directing it, and for a group playing arrangements with a soloist that is not optional. Ask whether a conductor is included in the quote or an addition, because both arrangements are common and the difference is not small.

Charts are the other thing to raise early. If you want a particular piece that is not standard repertoire, it has to be arranged for the exact instrumentation you have booked, which means somebody writing parts and everybody rehearsing them. Ask how much notice that takes and treat the answer as a real deadline, not a suggestion.

How many players is this quote for, and what is the next size down? Is a conductor included? What stage dimensions and chair count do you need from the venue? Do you require amplification in a room like ours? And what notice do you need for an arrangement we request?

Ask about the break structure too. A large ensemble playing a long event works in blocks with rests, and knowing where those fall lets you put the speeches in a gap rather than talking over a sixteen piece group that has just started a piece.