Does the string quartet play for outdoor events?
Absolutely. Our only concerns are the safety of our insruments and enough warmth for our fingers to move. Experience has shown us that we cannot perform in temperatures below 60°F. (Thankfully, in Dallas and Fort Worth, this is not generally a concern!) At temperatures lower than that, we must have adequate supplemental heating. We regret that we cannot perform in the rain. Our violins are made of wood and cannot be exposed to direct rain or very high humidity where the moisture is appearing on surfaces, as it will cause them to warp. We enjoy playing outdoors in our wonderful Texas warm weather 🙂 However, our violins are a bit more picky. They really must avoid direct exposure to the sun as this causes the instruments to warp and this diminishes the sound quality. For this reason, we require complete shade while using our instruments outdoors in hot weather.
