As our society becomes more affluent, the effort put into organising wedding banquets has become an increasingly complex one. Whilst food and beverage will always remain the benchmark upon which each banquet is compared, many couples have in recent times placed greater emphasis on intangibles such as ambience, décor and entertainment.

The entertainment options open to couples nowadays are varied. A pianist, a string quartet, a strolling band, the possibilities are only limited by budget constraints. One entertainment genre that is gaining popularity is traditional Chinese music. And in this genre, there is arguably no better exponent than Dama Orchestra. Celebrating its 10^th anniversary this year in 2004, Dama Orchestra has evolved from an original quintet of musicians playing the liuqin (Chinese mandolin), pipa (Chinese lute), yangqin (Chinese dulcimer), erhu (Chinese violin) and guzheng (Chinese harp) into an ensemble capable of staging concerts with a 35-member Chinese orchestra as a centrepiece.

While their forte lies in Chinese music, Dama has also made a successful foray into non-Chinese music. Their concert series - 'Bridges', 'Earthbound' and 'A Musical Sojourn' - feature music and songs from all over the world played on predominantly Chinese instruments. The concerts have been well-received and have now become a featured concert programme of Dama Orchestra.

For those wishing to inject some Chinese musical culture into their wedding celebrations, Dama Orchestra accepts invitations to perform at banquets. Suffice to say, a musical sojourn back to the era of traditional Chinese tunes will definitely contribute to the evening being an unforgettable one.