Orchestrate

Recently I was planning a dinner party, a rather large one. Thirteen family members and 28 friends were on the guest list. I've planned smaller dinner parties before so I figured it wouldn't be all that tough to put this one together.

The first issue that came up was where to have this dinner party. My home certainly is not large enough to accommodate 41 people. I thought of possibly doing this at a restaurant that has a banquet room - but I really wanted this to have a bit more of a personal touch than just meeting at some restaurant. In the midst of trying to figure this out four more family members and two more friends ended up on the guest list now bringing the total to 47 people. With one month left to orchestrate this event I wasn't quite sure how to handle this.

One afternoon I was speaking with a business associate trying to get ideas and she suggested I hire an event planner who could arrange and orchestrate the entire event for me. That was it - this was the answer to my confusion on what to do.

I did an internet search for event planners - but wasn't satisfied with the results. Finally, I remembered my friend Eddy (not her real name) who was a caterer and had put together many large parties. I called her and she said she would be more than happy to help me work out the details of this party. First thing Eddy did was find a place to have the party. She had access to a local ballroom which gave us more than enough room to set up a five large table with chairs tables. We had a bar and bartender, a dance floor and a swing jazz band and a game area for the kids. The ballroom was decorated with candles and floral arrangements.

The best part of the event was the food. since I wanted to have a bit of a personal touch I had gathered several recipes from my family and friends which Eddy took and prepared. We had a special chicken dish with a delicious red sauce which was a favorite of my sisters as we were growing up. There was a fantastic potato salad which was made from a recipe of one of my aunts. The most popular dish was the German chocolate carrot cake that a long-time friend had made for me on one of my birthdays.

Needless to say the party was a huge success and Eddy received many kudos for a job well done at arranging the party. If I should ever plan on another party like this one I will again hire Eddy to orchetrate it, she is truly a professional.

Music is one of the world's most cherished forms of entertainment and lifestyle. I am a huge fan of many types and genres of music. I am always fascinated with the technical side of putting the music together. There are the songwriters, musicians, vocalists, composers, arrangers and orchestrators.

An orchestrator is the one who writes and arranges the music for an orchestra. 

One of the most trendsetting orchestrators is Peter Knight, who in his career was successful at blending classical structures with rock and pop music. He first came to prominence in 1967 with his fantastic orchestration of the Moody Blues' masterpiece album "Days of the Future Passed". Knight so perfectly assembled each piece of music to form a swirling work of art. The song "Nights In white Satin" was inducted into the Grammy Awards Hall of Fame in 1977.

Peter Knight is also widely known for having orchestrated the lovely recording of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" as recorded by Karen Carpenter for the Carpenters' 1977 album "Passage". In this rendition the lush orchestration includes mesmerizing keyboards and full orchestral passages. The recording session made the nightly news for it's sheer grandiosity of including near 200 musicians and vocalists to complete the song.

ORCHESTRATE