Duo, trio or String quartet,

Duo,Trio or String Quartet: the perfect accompaniment to your event

News!

March 2018

Afton Strings will be exhibiting at the Culzean Castle Wedding Open day on March 25th, 2018!

Please come and hear Mark (violin) and Feargus (Cello) play and have a chat to them if you're in the area.

We look forward to seeing you there.

We are delighted with our new ad in the Have and to Hold Royal Wedding issue, on sale in March 2018 - keep an eye out for it in the Entertainment section.

February 2018

Introducing our new logo! We hope that you like it!

November 2017

Afton Strings Duo made an appearance at the Culcreuch Castle Hotel Wedding Fayre: Mark and Feargus had a great day and enjoyed speaking to everyone at the show.

August 2016

A little timeline of some of the things that have happened since March this year :-)

August 2016

This past week, Nina has accomplished a revamp of the "Our players", "Parties& Events", "Recitals" and "Wedding packages" sections on our website, and introducing String Duo as a new option for wedding ceremonies and
eceptions.

Lots of the really lovely feedback that Afton Strings has been continuosly receiving hadn't yet found its way onto the website, but a good selection of it is now available to read on the Wedding Packages page

July - August 2016

In between playing with Afton Strings for weddings and events, two of the regular players in Afton Strings (Mark as a violinist and pianist and Nina as a soprano and violinist) had a busy couple of months giving recitals in London as part of the St Paul's Summer Music Festival and Harrow Summer Music Festival with the pianists and composers Steve Law and Neil Crossland. Both gave premieres of new works as well as performances of repertoire including Puccini, Beethoven, Bernstein, Donizetti, Rachmaninoff, Liszt and more. Mark also had three of his songs premiered: White in the Moon, The Lone Sheiling and Heart of my Heart (in a new version for solo piano and soprano.)

May 2016

Afton Strings purchased a cantilever parasol that is perfect for sheltering the Trio when playing outside (and it can also be placed on paved areas!). This is the view from underneath it at a recent gig at Seamill Hydro.

March 2016

Afton Strings gave a very well received recital at the Moffat Music Society, featuring music by British composers: Bridge, Elgar, Moeran, Vaughan Williams and John Purser. They also premiered two works by Mark Wilson (Canadian Boat Song) and Neil Crossland (Dream within a dream). You can read the full review on the Afton Strings' Recitals page

October 2014

Afton Strings' super talented violinist, Mark Wilson, is now offering his services as a composer for your wedding! If you've always wanted something totally unique for your ceremony, please talk to Mark about having a piece written especially for you. Have a listen to the gorgeous piece "Heart of my Heart" that he wrote for his own wedding for the bride walking down the isle here: https://www.aftonstrings.com/apps/videos/videos/show/18733408-mark-wilson-heart-of-my-heart

If you're interested in knowing more about Mark's compositions, if you'd like to hear more examples and find out how much it would cost, please use the enquiry form and describe the kind of music that you're looking for. Mark is a really versatile composer and can write songs in almost any style.

September 2013

After a really busy summer, Nina has finally had some time give the website a little bit of a make-over: I hope you like it! :-) She also updated all the repertoire lists so that they are now including all the special requests that we have been arranging over the summer.

More arrangements are in the pipeline and will be going straight into the Afton Strings pads as well as being listed on the website over the next few weeks.

Some of our new repertoire that you can now find in our lists includes:

* The Temper Trap: Sweet Disposition (quartet: trio available in a few weeks)

* Rachmaninov: Paganini variations: 18th variation (Quartet)

* The Little Mermaid: Kiss the Girl: (trio and quartet)

* Coldplay: Yellow (Trio and quartet) * Van Morrison/M Buble: Crazy Love (Quartet)

* Van Morrison: Moondance (Quartet) * Bruno Mars: Marry You (Trio and Quartet)

* Legends of the Fall: The Ludlows (Quartet) *Mumford and Sons: Sigh no more (Trio)

* Christina Perri: A thousand Years (Trio) * Glasgow Love Theme (Trio and Quartet)

.....and lots more!

July 2013

Some more lovely feedback from last Saturday's (July 13th) wedding at the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh:

'It just didn't seem right to walk down the aisle to Pachelbel's Canon played on a 'boombox' and the decision to book your trio to deliver the real thing was justified by the atmosphere you instilled as my daughter and I took our first steps, an unforgettable experience, and very in keeping with the venue. Many guests commented on your wonderful playing and the varied selection of music throughout the pre and post ceremony gatherings. Many thanks for playing at the wedding.'

Paul Adams - Wedding 13 July, Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh

Huge thanks Paul for the lovely testimonial, we really appreciate it! :-)

June 2013

Over the past few months, Afton Strings have been planning and developing a series of exciting recitals featuring Mark Wilson, violin, Michael Beeston, viola, Ilse McFarlane, cello and Nina Kopparhed, soprano (and additional violinist in the string quartet). It's an all Schubert programme featuring a lot of all-time favourites but with a twist: the lieder, sung by Nina, will all be played with string trio accompaniment instead of piano!

This is the programme:

Schubert: String trio D471;

Schubert lieder for soprano and string trio: (Am mein Herz, Der Fluss, Gretchen am Spinnrade, Der Schmetterling and Der Hirt aus dem Felsen), and

Schubert: String Quartet "Der Tod und das Madchen" (with Nina on 2nd violin)

The first recital in the series is on October 4th, 2013 at the Moffat music Society at Old Well Theatre, Moffat: more concerts are in the pipeline and we will announce them here shortly.

Please come along, it'd be lovely to see you!

May 30th, 2013

This lovely letter arrived in our letterbox this morning: it made our day! It's from the bride and groom at a wedding that we played at in Kinclaven Church and Ballathie House Hotel in April this year: huge thanks to you both for sending this to us, it was so nice of you: we really appreciate it! :-)

"To all at Afton Strings: Thank you so much for playing at our wedding. You were absolutely amazing and surpassed all expectations. Our guests all commented on how great you were and I believe that some even pulled out a pew at our reception to listen to your fantastic repertoire. We really appreciated you taking the time to learn many of our favourites - especially Kiss the Girl!

My only regret is that we didn't get to hear more of you!

We will be sure to recommend you to all our family and friends!

Thanks again, S& A"

March 2013

Since June 2012, (the first issue we were in) Afton Strings have been seen in the fabulous Best Scottish Wedding Magazine on a regular basis: their current issue (which we're in) is out in the shops now!

A peek at what's featured in their current issue

Afton Strings also have lots of recitals and exciting projects in the pipeline: more very soon.. watch this space.. :-)

Also, a huge thanks to all the lovely couples who have booked us to play for their wedding this year: we look forward to seeing you on your your big day!

(Posted by Nina)

June 2012

Afton Strings are really excited to be featured in this month's (Jun 2012) issue of The Best Scottish Wedding magazine!

It's a fabulous glossy magazine featuring lots of great ideas and suppliers for your wedding, all available in Scotland.

We received our copy this morning and I've been leafing through it all day: I especially love the amazing dresses!

(Posted by Nina)

July 26th, 2011

Our flurry of activity at Afton strings HQ continued today with the long-awaited purchase of a fully waterproof Afton Strings Gazebo! Now no Scottish weather is too much for us!

All sides can be removed if needed and in nice sunny weather we only use two sides so that we get the shade we need wherever in the garden we are as well as ensuring that we can be seen by the guests.

We are over the moon with the purchase and are looking forward to using it at our next outdoor engagement.

July 25th 2011

We at Afton Strings HQ have been working hard on getting our videos up on YouTube and over the past few days we have managed to post two Demo DVDs! We're really excited! :)

Here they are:

The first one is featuring some of the highlights of our wedding ceremony repertoire and

the second video

some of the most popular pieces from our selection of wedding reception repertoire.

We hope that you enjoy them!