We had the enormous pleasure of hosting Marina & Nick for a house concert in our holiday decor home. 
The bargain $20 concert ticket covered food & drink, a charitable donation for holiday toys, the musicians' talents & time, and guaranteed 1st to 8th row seating. 

We started the evening with cocktails during sunset.  That allowed many of the 37 guests to meet the musicians.  Only 3 attendees had previously seen Marina perform. 

During the concert, Marina shared the personal stories that inspired the majority of her songs.  This drew the crowd in even more to the musicians' art. Everyone was spellbound and silent while Marina sang.  During intermission, Marina & Nick mingled with the guests over a holiday buffet.  We even had a visit from the local Santa Claus.  Compared to hearing a musician in a noisy bar, a private home's living room or garden venue provides a much more peaceful and engaging concert experience. After the concert, Marina offered Russian chocolates to guests who bought signed CDs.

By the time the group headed out to carol together in our neighborhood, guests & musicians alike had had an opportunity to get to know each other.  Thank goodness Marina's beautiful voice helped counter our spirited off-key attempts. Such a personal experience is a rarity for performing musicians.  From the photos (click here), it would appear that Marina & Nick had as good a time as the rest of us. 

Subsequent emails and calls from guests included comments like
"Wow!  We were pleasantly surprised.", 
"We didn't expect such a professional performance and wonderful music.", and "Thanks for introducing us to a different way to get to know talented musicians." 

As the hosts, we enjoyed ourselves so much that we have booked Marina & Nick for round two in 2006.

-Patrick and Tashia, Holiday concert December 2005