Birthday Party (Adult)•Reviewed on June 15, 2013•From Purcellville, VA
Very happy, this was my first time hiring a string trio - for my Mother's 90th birthday party that was held in the evening at a winery tasting room, 20 guests. Our requirements: talented/professional musicians, mix of popular and classical music, specific songs and not too overpowering music.
Scheduling/contract process with Slava went smoothly, he arranged for a violin, cello and guitar trio and I forwarded a list of requested songs from their song list. The musicians arrived on time, played beautifully and accomodated all our needs throughout the evening. Not sure they played all the requested songs, we did have to ask for the waltzes, which were beautiful!
Review by Arlene S.
Engagement Party•Reviewed on April 30, 2018•From Lafayette Hill, PA
Excellent. Many guests loved them. The room was not huge and I needed to ask them to not play so loud. This is the only complaint! Thanks so much.
Review by David M.
Event•Reviewed on September 19, 2016•From Philadelphia, PA
Review by Louis S.
Wedding Ceremony•Reviewed on May 29, 2012•From Camden, NJ
They are not the best at maintaining contact via email, but a group of talented people arrived and played as requested. I only heard compliments from guests.
Review by Racheal R.
Holiday Party•Reviewed on December 8, 2022•From Boston, MA
Review by Racheal R.
Corporate Function•Reviewed on December 8, 2022•From Boston, MA
Review by Jean B.
Wedding•Reviewed on October 14, 2012•From Washington, DC
International Strings actual performance was excellent, our only complaint was when they transitioned from one room to the other (wedding ceremony to cocktail hour) Instead of playing immediately during the cocktail hour they had to be prompted to play. The idea was to have them play as people came into the venue but they were "taking a break".. We only had them playing for 2 hours. If a short break was necessary this was not the time for that.
:
It was our pleasure to provide music for this special occasion. We are very glad that the client acknowledges the excellency in our performance. As per our contract we take a short 5-7 min break in the middle of 2 hours performance. The clients never communicated to us beforehand about when exactly they expected us to take this break. We would have gladly accommodated their request if we only knew about it beforehand. While we were taking our short break somebody from the client's party politely mentioned that it would be great if we would start playing as soon as we could. We immediately followed the request and played without any intermissions until the end.
Review by Rudolf R.
Wedding Cocktail Hour•Reviewed on July 21, 2013•From Villanova, PA
I saw others who commented in their reviews that the musicians were not the same ones on the web site; I did not realize that there would be 0 resemblence to the original in either the players or their abilities.
Review by Ashley S.
Wedding Cocktail Hour•Reviewed on October 21, 2013•From Glen Mills, PA
IST is NOT the same 3 people as on the website. They are a large group of musicians across cities managed by Slava. We felt this was misrepresented at first. Also, this meant all communication went through Slava, so that when the musicians arrived day-of they were not clear on the subtleties of the event. Instead of being flexible with our timeline, they left exactly when their booking ended despite us being behind schedule. The planner had to put on an ipod to fill the gaps. Music was good but could have found the same with more flexibility elsewhere. Also, they were VERY slow to relocate between ceremony/cocktails/dinner so we only had music for half of cocktails.
:
We are glad that the clients acknowledges that "music was good" and we fulfilled our contractual obligation. We clarified with the client before they hired us that our main Philly based trio will be playing at this event. Our musicians knew ALL of the details of the job and did everything the way we agreed upon with the client. Unfortunately the relocation from the ceremony to the cocktail hour takes a bit of time - simply because we have to move the instruments and the gear to another room. We exactly for the duration that we were hired, since this is what expected from us at weddings - to play for the contracted time. We received many compliments from guests.
Review by Kevin G.
Cocktail Party•Reviewed on December 6, 2010•From Philadelphia, PA
We hired the International String Trio (IST),plus a horn player for our wedding cocktail. The event was in Phila and IST is from the Boston area. I was expecting to see/hear the(3)muscians that appear on gigmasters/IST web-site. I loved their style and sound. Unfortunately,(3)other guys showed up that were not what I knew as IST. Please be forewarned, unless they have updated their info IST is not what it appears to be on gigmasters/IST website. Trust me, I did tons of research. This felt like a bait-and-switch. I asked about this directly with IST and their manager said they sent their "normal muscians". Should have communicated this before the event. Disappointing.
:
Two of our group's members recently relocated to NYC, that is why we now are covering NYC, Philly, and DC area, as well as still work in New England. Here is what Kevin G had to say in an email about the quality of music provided for his event:
"I had no problems with the quality of the quartet's performance."
I assume that the client came across some outdated info about our group on the web.
3 current IST members played at this event plus a horn player - upon client's request.
