Updated: June 1, 2010

This section sets forth some basic guidelines and some insurance and security requirements that will help you make your private concert an enjoyable and successful evening.  Over the last twenty years, I have performed many hundreds of private concerts in homes, estates, and other venues around the world.  Out of these many concerts have come experiences common to every private concert.

Our mutual attention to these details will help me provide the very best program for you and your guests and will insure that I am not subject to increases in insurance rates.

Your concert will be much like a concert in symphony hall.  The same environment and etiquette applies so that the evening will work properly.  As your concert approaches, remember the words of Leopold Stokowski who said,

The Invitation and Attendance:

! VERY IMPORTANT!: Strict insurance requirements related to the art collection mandate special security measures be implemented for any audience of 48 or more attendees. Your concert MUST NOT exceed a total audience of 48 attendees without my prior approval. Please call me right away if you have any questions concerning this requirement. In addition, all invited guests MUST BE invited solely through the printed invitation. No verbal invitations are allowed.

Please note that well over $1,000,000.00 in art will be in your home. The art is fully insured and you and your guests will assume no liability. I am subject to occasional on-site audits by the insurers, so it is really important that you and I work together to make sure that the guidelines explained in this document are followed.

Please visit 'The Invitation' on the menu page to see a sample invitation. Unless otherwise noted, you will receive 50 invitations. Please, mail ALL invitations out to insure a full house. Scheduled concerts for which all invitations have not been mailed are subject to cancellation. Please note that the invitation reads "Seating Is Limited To _____." This informs your guest list that seating is limited and once you have received enough RSVP's to fill your home concert space, you are entitled to decline subsequent RSVP's. Your guests will understand. Most likely, your concert is being hosted by a nonprofit organization and it is important to achieve a full house to maximize all the time, effort, and expense being put into the concert. Between the cost of invitations, art insurance and other expenses, upwards to $1,000.00 will be spent on an average home concert. Again, I cannot stress enough how important it is to mail ALL of the invitations provided for your concert. If, for any reason, you are unable to mail all of the invitations provided, please call me right away.

Please note that any home concert must have a minimum of 25 guests in attendance. Concerts of less than 25 guests are highly problematic and subject to cancellation.

Invitations should NOT be hand delivered. It is important to mail the invitation to the guest. Ideally, invitations should NOT be mailed to business addresses. This is important as experience has shown when invitations are delivered to or mailed to business addresses, RSVP rates can be as little as 2% (compared to home addresses where the RSVP rate can be as high as 80%). Guests MUST BE invited solely through the invitation format. ! No guest should be invited, at any time, solely through a verbal invitation. Again, insurance and security requirements demand that all guests RSVP off of the printed invitation.

Please do not copy, fold, alter, or change invitations in any way.

Please note that private concerts should not be scheduled on Wednesday or Sunday evenings without my prior approval. If you wish to schedule a concert on these evenings, please call my office. All private concerts must be evening concerts with a start time no earlier then 6:30PM with the exception of Sunday afternoon concerts or Ladies' Tea Concerts.

2.  Do not use non profit postage rates as this will seriously delay delivery of your invitations, and take care to use the right postage amount. I also suggest strongly that metered postage not be used. 

3.  It is exceedingly important that you control the number of guests who attend by limiting the number of guests to a final number that will comfortably fit into your home.  Your invitation will read "Seating Is Limited" and generally will have a number that limits the seating.  A typical home will seat around 45 people and once you have reached maximum seating, decline all subsequent RSVP's. It cannot be emphasized enough that a home or venue should seat only the number of people that can comfortably fit into the room. ! Again, any concert that exceeds 48 people total must be cleared through my office first as concerts exceeding that number are subject to additional insurance and security requirements.

4.  All guests and any hired help MUST BE seated during the concert.

5. ! Please accept guests only through the formal RSVP process (telephone or Internet).  Do not under any circumstances allow open door attendance.  Internet RSVP's received through email will be through an email of your choice, so please be sure and provide me an email address.

6. ! Guests must be invited through the invitation format only.  Guests must not be invited solely through a verbal invitation. If one of your guests asks to bring a guest with them, you must send that guest a printed invitation.

7. ! If guests indicate that they will be arriving after the doors close time as listed on the invitation, please decline their attendance as late arrivals and early departures serve only to disrupt the program.  A clear exception is made for doctors who may be on call.  In this case, encourage their attendance but also let them know they need to sit towards the back where, if need be, they can slip out and leave the concert without disruption. Please note that the start time for the concert as indicated on the invitation will NOT be delayed for late guests.

8.  RSVP rates for the private concert tend to be higher than what people expect.  Some concerts have had RSVP rates as high as 90% and I would estimate that over the years, the average RSVP rate for the private concert using the invitation format is 58%. To maximize the opportunity the concert presents, and to justify the considerable time, effort, and expense that will be put into the concert, please mail ALL of the invitations provided for your concert. If for any reason you are unable to mail all the invitations provided, please call me right away.

9.  If your home is in an area of limited parking, you might consider letting your neighbors know in advance that you will be having an event in your home.  Please ask them to be patient for the three or four hours needed. Better yet, invite them!

10. IMPORTANT!!!!! I am subject to national and international performance contracts and security restrictions that must be honored. Please review carefully "Publicity Restrictions" for additional information. In short, photography and media is not allowed in any concert without my prior approval. Additionally, no mention of the concert may be made in any written forum to include newspapers, magazines, Internet postings, organizational newsletters, bulletins, or radio without my prior approval.

11. After the concert, if any of your guests ask for my contact information, please refer them to my primary website at www.themercyfoundation.com.

12. Many hosts like to provide each guest (couple) with a CD of music as a gift to the guests as they leave the concert. If this interests you, please go to the 'Menu' page and click on 'Music For Your Guests' to see how CD's are customized with your name. While certainly this is not required, it does make for a very nice touch.

13. Unless otherwise noted, your concert is likely going to be hosted on behalf of a nonprofit organization. Under these circumstances, I do not accept donations of any kind for my work. Contributions are NOT required from hosts but if you wish to do so, please make your contribution to the hosting organization to help them with costs for the evening.

If your concert is being hosted on behalf of a nonprofit organization, please be prepared to make your guest list available to the executive director/CEO at least 48 hours in advance of the concert. The organization will need to know who was in attendance, who was invited, and who was unable to attend. If you are unable to turn your guest list over to the executive director, please call me right away.

The Environment:

1.  Five to six hours before the concert, please turn your air conditioning on and cool the house as much as possible.  This applies in winter as well as once the guests arrive, the home will warm quickly.

2. ! All concerts must be indoors.

3.  The audience must be seated in one room.  Please do not divide the audience into more than one room.

4.  Prior to the arrival of guests, the seating must be in place and set the chairs wide and not deep.

Please note this example and reference the various photos you see throughout this document:

5.  I have yet to see a private concert in a home where it was necessary to move furniture around.  Other than the moving of lamps and other small objects to create a clear line of sight, I encourage you to use your existing seating and place the chairs in and around the furniture. It is important that no furniture be between the audience and me (coffee tables need to be removed) and I prefer the home be left as intact as possible with chairs added in and around the existing furniture. See 'The Private Concert In Photos' on the menu page for helpful photographs that show proper concert set up.

6.  ! After all guests have arrived and just before the concert begins, remember to turn all phones off and silence any chiming clocks.  The one item most often missed in private concerts, is failing to turn the phones off. 

7. ! Pets should not be in any concert and kindly need to be removed prior to my arrival. Insurance requirements mandate that no pets of any kind are allowed in a concert setting.

8. ! Unless otherwise noted and with the exception of The Artists' Neighborhood concerts, children are not allowed in the concert. As the host, you may have teenagers of your own who you would like to see attend the concert. If so, please call me and we can work that out. You may also have guests who want to bring their teenage children with them. In this case, please call me so we can work that out.

9.  Recording and photography during the concert is not allowed without my permission. This is an insurance and security mandate.

10. Hard liquor and beer must NOT be served in any concert. There are no exceptions to this requirement. I personally do not consume alcohol of any kind but I am not opposed to wine being served.

11. ! No food or drink may be allowed in the room where the art and concert will be held. This is an insurance mandate.

12. ! Candles are not allowed in the room where the art is held, as the smoke is damaging to the art. This is an insurance mandate.

13.  You do not need to make any special arrangement for the display of the art.

14.  I will arrive at least 30 minutes in advance of the first guests arriving and I will need access to a bedroom or other room on the ground floor (not accessible to guests) to unpack the art.  Please have seating set up for the concert prior to my arrival. If I need to make any adjustments, I will work with you to make the necessary adjustments.

15.  Guests should be seated five minutes after the doors close time, as noted on the invitation.  Seating works best when guests are seated from the front row working towards the back.  To achieve this, in advance, set out enough chairs for 85% of the audience.  Once seated, bring the remaining chairs out to seat the remaining guests.  Set chairs close together and tight to one another.

16. Unless otherwise noted and cleared through my office, private concerts MUST be held only in private homes that are active residences. Vacant homes or any other neutral venue must be cleared by my office in advance.

17. Your invitation will read "Business Dress" for the dress code. Guests need to dress appropriately for the evening.

Conclusion:

If you have any questions or concerns, please visit "Contact Christian" on the menu page and I will happily work with you to make sure your concert is an enjoyable evening. On the menu page, you will note "Concert Checklist." Please print this out for your reference and also note the menu key which shows the home concert photo gallery. I hope you will take a moment and look at the photo gallery as it is a very good represenation of what your concert will be like.

Thank you in advance for opening your home and for your hospitality. Thank you, as well, for your close attention to this document which will insure that your concert will be an enjoyable experience for all. I look forward to our time together and I am honored that you have chosen to host the evening.

Christian Thomas Lee
Las Vegas, Nevada