Father’s Day Brunch at Jardin Royal Garden

One of the funny things about being a harpist (or a performer in general I guess) is that holidays and other special occasions to spend with family are some of the most in-demand days. On this Father’s Day, I ditched my Dad for the morning to play for Jardin Royal Garden’s Father’s Day Brunch (and was treated to some brunch myself!).

What I played

When prepping for this performance, I asked my dad some of his favourite oldies songs to prepare for the dads in attendance, and added them to my existing setlist of classical harp standards, less common harp pieces by composers like Hasselmans and Andres, and pop covers. The brunch lasted for 2 seatings of about 60 minutes each, with a break in between for me to sample the brunch menu.

Feedback

Guests, staff, and residents all appreciated the music as they drank mimosas and ate their brunch with their families. One table from across the dining room gave a small round of applause after finishing a particularly showy piece. I even had one resident decide he wanted to sing along with my playing (after almost knocking into the harp on his way over with his walker), even though the piece I was playing didn’t have lyrics. The fun of being a harpist!