As orchestra manger for English National Ballet and a busy freelance orchestral player as well, I have found Morgensterns diary service invaluable, both as client and manager, over the many years I have used them. Julian's staff go to extraordinary lengths to contact players for me and let me know what is happening, by my home phone, my mobile, by e-mail and sometimes through another fixer I might be working for. The Teleteam refer dates and know not to turn anything down, unless I've given explicit instructions to do so - they also know when planes are landing and whether or not some one has a realistic chance of getting from an airport to a rehearsal, performance or session. I look forward to working with Morgensterns for the next 25 years!

I joined Morgensterns in 1992 having just enjoyed a year as postgraduate scholar leading the Trinity College of Music orchestras. I was given sound advise from the outset and have enjoyed an increasingly busy diary as a working violinist. Speaking as a fixer, I now direct the Bernardi Music Group and the Shipley Arts Festival, Morgensterns cutting edge technology offers a robust organisational back up. The advent of the mobile phone has made the receiving of messages easier and while I do miss the faxes I received from Morgensterns back in the 1990's delivered from café fax machines in far reaches of globe, I continue to rely on the Teleteam's reliable and professional handling of my engagements. As a fixer it's also good to see players who've been introduced to me through Morgensterns availability lists, becoming regular 'fixtures' in our ensemble concerts. I wish you all the best for the future.  Andrew Bernardi's web profile

I appreciate the way they manage my diary whilst giving me absolute control over the work I accept, even letting me know when a fixer has chosen not to refer against an existing booking, and letting fixers know that I'm 'thinking about it' when a clash comes in that requires some rearranging on my part. The sms and email services are great too, both as a written confirmation of details to avoid my own paranoia, and also in situations when a phonecall would be inappropriate. I trust Morgensterns to be a perfect agent with whom to run my professional life.   Nichola Blakey's web profile

Morgenterns is an extremely reliable and professional service, not only in terms of the professionalism of the teleteam in keeping my diary up to date but also the fact that they are using the latest in modern communication to make sure that I never miss an opportunity.   Peter Cigleris's web profile

I first joined Morgensterns soon after its formation and was always amazed (in the days with no email or mobile phones) how fast Julian would find me and fix work. I enjoyed a full diary thanks to his enthusiasm and dedication. Having returned to freelancing after a break I now find a totally different and even more streamlined world. Work comes in and I receive a text, an email and a call immediately so that whatever I am doing I am able to respond within minutes. I am also very impressed with the fact that any Morgensterns client can be found at the top of Google so that we are all a few clicks away from being found when someone is searching for us by name.   Tom Hardy's web profile

Joining Morgensterns, since returning to the U.K. in January of this year, has made re-embarking on my UK free-lance carreer much easier than I had expected. Juggling family life, teaching and playing work for a newly married couple who are both free-lance musicians with a toddler is complicated to say the least. With Morgensterns behind us, however, we feel that everything is under control and that work will keep coming in and fixers will be aware of our presence and availability very quickly. The response time of the Teleteam is first rate and we appreciate the excellent web profiles and the fact that there are so many fine musicians on Morgensterns books.'  Jonathan Hennessey Brown's web profile

When, 12 years ago, I retired from the Royal Opera House after thirty five years as Principal Clarinet, a colleague suggested that I should join Morgensterns Diary service. Since then I have been contacted on many occasions to deputise for players who were either unwell or otherwise engaged and they have been very helpful in finding me lifts with other musicians doing the same date. I realised the value of my website when I was contacted by a film company - who were smitten by my photograph - which had been taken, I regret to say, some years earlier. I remain with Morgensterns because, although dates are getting fewer, it signals to employers and fixers that I am still in the running.   Ian Herbert's web profile

I joined Morgensterns in 1988 when, needless to say, there were fewer of us and communications, before the days of mobile phones and email, were more difficult. Yet Morgensterns would always endeavour to contact you, by phone or fax, wherever you were in the world, and one of the really invaluable things about Morgensterns is how they have kept up with modern technology and embraced everything new to help all the clients from the those who have recently left music college to the long established professional player.

Personally, as a free lance musician working in orchestras, opera houses, West End shows and occasionally venturing into recording studios, it is also a delight to meet and work with members of the teleteam who have progressed into the world of orchestral management and beyond. Orchestras I work with a lot, like the BBC Symphony and Age of Enlightenment Orchestras, the City of London Sinfonia and others, have such people working for them. They know you and how your life works, how the business works too and this gives them a great knowledge of how to interact with and treat musicians and also cope with the vagaries and trials of life as a musician from their time at Morgensterns.  Patrick Jackman's web profile

I cannot be the only member of Morgensterns to have experienced being tracked down on all five continents - always with extensive back-up. Quite how they do it I'm not sure, but even in this era of email and mobile phones (neither of which existed when I originally joined) it's enormously reassuring to know one will never miss an important message or enquiry.   Julian Jacobson's web profile

I've always been happy and impressed with your professional service and the initiative your staff have taken to reach me. When abroad I have occasionally had some strange requests about means of contacting me, ie by using a mobile of someone else on the tour as mine doesn't work, and when in Australia I was happy to give you the phone no of the people I was staying with and the time difference, trusting you completely to only phone between certain hours so as not to wake up a whole family and make me unpopular!   Deborah Kemp's web profile

I have been with Morgensterns getting on for twenty years now, and have always been impressed with the effiency and professionalism of their service. The teleteam has changed over the years, but the high standards remain consistent......this is clearly illustrated by the fact that many have gone on to take up key roles in orchestral management. I particularly value the fact that as a client I remain in control of the work I take on, and the willingness of the Teleteam to immediately convey my responses to fixers saves me time and hassle   David Lewis's web profile

The service is fantastically reliable, quick and personal. My earliest memory is of the day I mistakenly turned up to Baden Powell for a morning rehearsal only to find no one there. In a panic, I rang the diary and the calm voice told me I should be at a little church 10 minutes walk away instead. 'Turn left out of the main door, third turning on your right. You will be there in lots of time, and there is a canteen in the basement for tea'. Absolutely brilliant! Moments like that bring loyalty of the sort you can't buy.   Jessica O'Leary's web profile

My life straddles two hemispheres; I suppose I am a global musician. And in such capacity I find there's a perfect fit between Morgensterns and me. I live in the Southern Hemisphere, and work in the Northern. I'm on the go all the time, forever travelling between the two, or travelling extensively from the two of them. And so my two vital professional companions are my PDA phone and Morgensterns. Between them I can do anything, anywhere. I have instant and immediate email contact anywhere there's a mobile phone signal. I can even do live Messenger wherever there's a signal too. That means on London buses, on the underground MTR system in Hong Kong, on the beach at the Great Barrier Reef. I hardly use the phone aspect of the mobile at all any more for work. Everything is done by email. So that's one side of the equation.

And the other is the human element at Morgensterns. The managerial mind ready to take action from or to feed action to my email communications. Morgensterns is the ideal professional companion. The staff are all lightning fast, efficient, extremely well informed and connected, and seem to find nothing a problem. I can make use of the instant availability lists; I can get colleagues aware of a possible job, but not quite booked; I can get messages to fixers at the right time of UK day; I can find out where a gig is and where I need to be straight off a twenty hour flight; I can even find out who else is on my gig; I can get a message through to a colleague who may be almost impossible to reach; and I can receive all information addressed to me from anyone É and all this - and more - while I am, say, in Tropical North Queensland, or on tour in the Baltic States. Morgensterns is the ideal and highly professional enabler for all this to happen. It's all possible, it all happens, sometimes daily. The human element is there, carefully watching over my electronic global communications, carefully ensuring it all goes smoothly, is all backed up, and nothing gets overlooked. There has to be both.

This all was driven home to me the year before last when I lost one side of the equation, the PDA phone. No, not lost but it was stolen in Pretoria, South Africa. Apart from all the practical things that had to be attended to, I knew I could relax knowing that the central database and the staff at Morgensterns were still managing my affairs, and could continue perfectly well for a time while I got back on my feet. And sure enough, that was the case, and Morgensterns was even able to help me there too; by supplying much-needed numbers, making contacts for me so that I missed nothing, as I desperately tried to re-establish my own personal database.

So, what is Morgensterns to me? It's the vital remote human side to my professional communication and management. Vital in that I couldn't manage without it; remote in that by virtue of its database kept centrally for all us clients making it secure; and human in that the staff keep a watchful and cheery eye on all my goings on, and they know when and how to act, and make correct judgements where appropriate, but essentially always double check and refer all to me.

I am deeply impressed with how Julian has always kept his business two or more steps ahead of the game. The website with auto-updated client profiles and mp3 files, indeed computerised diaries, WAP services for messages and calendars É the list goes on and on and is as impressive as it is long. I'm thrilled with the huge range of unique services Morgensterns now offers me, as standard! And when these are combined with instant global communication of the PDA phone, then we are a force to be reckoned with! Here's to the next twenty five years.   Mark Paine's web profile

Being with Morgensterns has afforded me many opportunities as a player. I was, for example, booked as a soloist to perform the Bach Double with less than a weeks notice, which has led to futher engagments. The team itself is very well organised and offers invaluable advice and support on CV writing, who to contact and how. I warmly recommend joining to all my colleagues.   Orpheus Papafilippou's web profile

The Morgernsterns teleteam are incredibly efficient; not only are they extremely polite and helpful when they contact you, they somehow manage to find you almost telepathically in places where not even you realised you were contactable!  

I have met many interesting players from the diary service and find it reassuring that we all have similar experiences and lifestyles whilst coping with life in an artistic setting. The teleteam are always helpful, efficient and knowledgeable. The whole organisation of Morgensterns is an excellent example of how technology can fuse with music to keep the adventurous musician alive with a feeling of belonging and some success.   Ron Tendler's web profile

As a client of Morgensterns I find there is always a friendly voice on the end of the telephone. Morgensterns Client web profiles are useful to have as a form of advertisement and I appreciate their efficiency. For example Morgensterns keep recordings of telephone conversations which can be a help when misunderstandings arise - Morgensterns can then deal with them efficiently. Their availability lists have lead to work enquiries from Orchestral Managers.   Sophia Tennant's web profile

I clearly remember the day that Julian Morgenstern visited me in Chiswick in 1983 to explain the details of a new diary service that he was setting up. I had been a freelance clarinettist for a few years and was realising the need for such a service so this came at just the right time for me.

In those early days, before mobile phones and the use of computers, Morgensterns always managed to track me down when there was an offer of work. That philosophy of always referring work to players continues and is backed up by an incredibly fast computer system that ensures that fixers get a rapid reply to their request for a player.

As Orchestra Manager for English Touring Opera, I particularly use Morgensterns availability lists when there is an illness in the orchestra that I can't fill with my usual deputies. Time is of the essence as these emergencies usually happen on the day of a performance which could be anywhere in the country. Knowing who might be available means that I can compile a list and then, if I'm stuck in a traffic jam on the way to Buxton for example, ask Morgensterns to systematically contact them until the seat is filled.

The people manning the phones are always very efficient and thorough, making sure they have taken full details of any request from a fixer or giving all the information to a player. Many of the team that Julian has employed over the years are musicians themselves and so understand what is needed. Several have gone on to responsible jobs in the management side of the music profession.

After 25 years things are still moving forward. Julian is constantly looking for new features to broaden the scope of Morgensterns and make the web-site an interesting and varied place to visit, such as links to other pages and to client profiles.

Like many advances that have been made over the years, we could all so easily take for granted something like Morgensterns diary service. It's there as an integral part of the music profession and I for one, as an orchestra fixer, can't imagine working without the support and back-up that Morgensterns gives me on a regular basis.   Peter Thompson's web profile

I have been with Morgensterns since 1989, when I left the Royal Academy of Music to freelance as an orchestral clarinettist and saxophonist. Morgensterns was a relatively young company I think but was recommended for it's quality of care. I can indeed vouch for that continuous care. The teleteam have always been good natured and professional, with an excellent sense of confidentiality. They also seem to have a good relationship with orchestral fixers and are prompt at relaying messages, providing availability lists. They are excellent at referring clashes, so that clients have absolute control over their professional engagements. Even whilst I was a full time member of the BSO I stayed with Morgensterns and in the years after leaving, although mainly working for one or two orchestras (RPO and ROH) it is peace of mind that keeps me with Morgensterns Diary.