It is April 17th 2021 and it feels so good to be back playing live music for real live people at a wedding.  This was my first visit to the very beautiful Baeconside House in North Devon which looked absolutely stunning in the Devon sunshine. Congratulations to Abigail and Chris on a beautiful ceremony.  It was small and intimate which I really like.  The ceremony was outdoors with the beautiful countryside as the backdrop.  Abigail and her bridesmaids walked into 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri.  I played 'Perfect' by Ed Sheeran and 'Can't help falling in love with you' by Elvis during the signing of the register. The bridal party then danced out to 'No place Id rather be' by Clean Bandit.  I then continued to play a wide range of music to accompany the drinks reception and photos.  I love this bit because it gives me the chance to try out some new arrangements.  I managed to try out 'Sweet child o mine' by Guns and Roses here.  We know it works for string quartet and goes down well but it also works for solo violin as well although note to self - ' Don't get too over excited in the big solo at the end - I nearly broke my E string!'. Great gig, great to be back.  Im now looking forward to a very busy summer programme both with the Exe Valley String Quartet and also as a solo musician.

I played at a lovely funeral service this afternoon. It was a fitting tribute from family and friends. This is the really beautiful Parish Church in Bovey Tracey which has the most gorgeous acoustic. It was a real honour to be asked to play my own new arrangement of The Lark Ascending. I have fallen in love with this piece again.

I think that may well be me done for 2020 now. Looks like more restrictions are in place on weddings from today. Yesterday I had another short trip up to the beautiful Brickhouse Vineyard. This time to play for Helen and Tom. A stunning day in the sunshine playing my violin whilst people mingle and chatter with a glass of bubbly. What else could you want? I played a new arrangement that I have just done of L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole which went down really well. Congratulations to Helen and Tom on a glorious wedding. More time to practice now over the winter and write arrangements! Cheers.

To complete a busy week I played at a very intimate wedding at the very beautiful Brickhouse Vineyard followed by the cozy Thefollydevon. Congratulations to Milo and Krisna on a romantic occasion. I was asked to write an arrangement of a popular Malaysian folk song for Krisnas entrance which sounded so nice on the violin. Milo entered to 'Theme from a summer place'. It was nice to play a few jazz standards as well today like 'At Last' by Etta James and 'Fly me to the moon'. I even had some lunch as well which was amazing! There is something very romantic about playing at a wedding where the only guests present are the bride and the groom - nobody else! #weddingviolinist #elopementweddingviolinist

I had a lovely afternoon with the Exe Valley String trio last Thursday. We played for the ceremony and drinks reception in Budleigh Salterton in the beautiful sunshine overlooking the sea. Congratulations to Laura and Adam on a beautiful wedding in stunning surroundings.  We played Canon in D for the brides entrance and the drinks reception started with Marry You by Bruno Mars.  It was so nice to play live music with human beings!

I am looking forward to working with the amazing students at Pauline Quirke Academy in Exeter tomorrow morning.  I am giving them some coaching as they prepare for an amazing gig in Exeter Cathedral in December with the one and only G4!!  

www.musiciandevon.co.uk is the new website for Richard Toomer - wedding and events violinist and pianist.  Visit the website for details of Richard's work as a violinist and a pianist.  You can even see what he gets up to with Rock Choir!  Please share amongst friends and family and anybody who you think might like to have Richard come and play at their special event in the near future.  Thank you.

Welcome to my new website!

We are very excited to announce our new website and new logo too. I promise to keep you posted on up and coming events you might be interested in and pictures and news from past events I have been involved with.

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