Best Musicians in United States

Beautiful venue, a truly wonderful experience and I am very impressed with everything about this,place

Awesome festival this year!!! Thank you to all the artists, vendors and volunteers for putting this great event together. Fantastic lineup!! Thank you for the fun weekend!!

Looking forward to attending again this year. We attended for many years before the pandemic closed everything down. The music lineup is always eclectic, amazing fine art, good selection of wines. We left Seattle for Tucson, but will be returning this summer to attend the Festival, and we are bringing friends from Eugene with us. We will be staying at the new Marriott on the waterfront, it looks amazing! Got our 3 day passes! PS - we met Sue Foley at the 2022 Festival, and looking forward to hearing her again this year.

Ryan was amazing! He was so great to work with and his singing, playing, and song choices were perfection! I wouldn't hesitate to book with him again - he really made our event awesome.

It was a great space for our friends to perform! The staff was very kind and considerate!

Amazing spot for classical music - both in terms of stage and recording equipment, including home of the beautiful St Luke's

Much like the other reviews, I wish I could give them a "no star" rating. I worked with them many times in the past and enjoyed the experience, but got SO burned by how they handled things during Covid that I will NEVER use this company again. They kept $20,000 of our trip money, even though they said that they would give us a "full refund for any acts of God." If Covid wasn't an act of God, I don't know what is. My school tried to take them to court and they said that they would win because the cancellation happened TO them...that they were not cancelling on us and that they were protected and we would lose. They essentially scared us out of taking them to court. The thing that bothers me the most is that all we had done to date, at the point of this cancelation, was exchange a few emails and sign paperwork (no flights or hotels were booked yet, and no real work had begun)...certainly not justification for keeping $20,000 from our largely under-privileged students. They completely lost my trust and my business.

Highest quality Chorus.

I cannot be more pleased with my experiences with RCT Music Group! Ryan is an amazing human all around - his responsiveness, his clarity & his overall vibe is best in class! Ryan played at my wedding 10 years ago & last month at my husband's surprise party - I still get compliments from a decade ago! If you dont go with RCT Music Group, it truly is your loss!

Recommended, cool place for professional music and World Premiere, keep going , Thank you for great evening with "NEW MUSIC BY 5 GEORGIAN COMPOSERS"

I experienced racism while volunteering for the Alexandria Symphony on November 12.

A recent immigrant volunteer who had only been in the United States for five months sat next to me. In the beginning of a conversation to get to know one another he said I did not look like an American and I did not sound like an American. I recoiled in shock because he had not seen my entire face as I had a mask on.

I tried to help him understand who his words were rude and that it would be better to communicate from the point of seeking to learn rather than assuming and judging. Unfortunately, he refused to acknowledge how his words impacted me as an American.

The volunteer coordinator came to the table asking how we were doing. He indicated we were fine. I said the exact opposite. She pulled me to the side and asked me what was wrong. I told her. She asked me if I should move. I indicated I was trying to help the recent immigrant understand how his words greatly negatively impacted me. The volunteer coordinator never returned to see if I was ok.

Later, a group of people who he spends time with asked how we were doing. He stated it was fine. I responded that it was not fine. The group proceeded to ignore me when I told them the immigrant said I did not look like an American and I did not sound like an American.

When the performance started, the coordinator indicated I could move and see the performance as my duties had been completed. I declined as I had just experienced severe racism.

That Monday she emailed apologizing for what I had gone through and offered me two free tickets. I thanked her for the offer but declined as being offered two tickets does not address the severe racism I experienced. I have not heard from Alexandria Symphony since to discuss what I experienced in conjunction to the policies and procedures they have in place to address racism.

I will never forget the treatment I received from both the recent immigrant and lack of support from the Alexandria Symphony. Two free tickets are severely insufficient.

The cinematic event produced by the Washington Chorus about the experience of tragic proportions from the lockdowns during covid and the loved ones lost was very moving.

Got our tickets for the 2023 Festival. My friends and I had a fantastic time at this festival last year. I do not know much about jazz, but my best friend loves jazz and so we went on Saturday because she wanted to see Diane Schuur and the Yellowjackets band. The music from these bands was amazing (sound system seemed a little too loud for earlier bands) and I'm a fan. I bought a beautiful ceramic vase from one of the artists. Had good food and wine. We are looking forward to coming back next month!

We have attended in years but it was cancelled due to covid and lockdowns for 2 years (crazy!). 2022 was fantastic music - a fun mix of blues, Latin, fusion jazz, and straight ahead. Great lineup: Diane Schuur, Poncho Sanchez, Yellowjackets. Sue Foley (who I did not know) was a fantastic blues set on Friday, and I hope they bring her back sometime. The Festival has excellent fine artists, good food, and a nice mix of wines. We will be back for a fun 3-day weekend in 2023 - we already have our tickets!

Ryan was certainly a highlight at our wedding for us and our guests! He recently played acoustic guitar and sang during our ceremony and cocktail hour. We are lucky to have found him. Ryan is incredibly talented, professional, punctual, easy-going, communicative, and accommodating. To start, we had an in-depth conversation about the wedding’s vibe, details, songs, etc. and them he gave us a long list of songs from all genres to pick from. I especially liked his more recent songs which really sounded amazing played acoustically. I had a hard time deciding my walk down the aisle and recessional songs, but Ryan’s thoughtful input and guidance helped so much. During cocktail hour his song list fit the vibe exactly and was thoroughly enjoyed by our guests. He even let the 3-year-old flower girl strum his guitar! The best part however was that Ryan learned two songs upon our request. These songs mean a lot to us as a couple, so hearing them played so beautifully by Ryan on our wedding day was something we will never forget!

The beer and wine is nice 👍 I'm giving this one star because iv gone to this for 2 days and I haven't heard much in the way of "jazz music" they have played lots of other types of music that are very nice at times but I came here to listen to jaz and enjoy the wine and beer so please next year play lots of actual jazz sincerely everyone in the park

Ryan is an incredible musician, responsive business owner, and overall just an excellent person to work with. He performed at our wedding ceremony playing guitar for guests and then for the processional down the aisle. He was such a pleasure to work with, open to our specific requests and had such a calm and professional attitude. He also helped us source and set up additional equipment on short notice. It was such a relief to have his knowledge, expertise and talent that day. We're so grateful we got to work with him, he is incredibly talented, and I would highly recommend working with him for whatever event you are considering!

Alexandria Birthday concert. STOP the political correctness in your program. Leave it out of this or any night.

Clean, spacious, good reception. Acoustics were nice too, despite the projector not working properly in the performance hall downstairs.

Ryan has been teaching my 10 year old son cello and inspired him to also start with the piano. The fact that Ryan can teach multiple instruments with ease and expertise is amazing enough but to inspire a child to become interested in another musical instrument is another level. It's a sign of a great teacher who connects and inspires their students to come back for more, make it fun and on top of it all - make them great musicians. My son loves his weekly lesson. We feel so fortunate to have found Ryan - he is a gift!

Ryan was an absolutely fantastic performer. All the way around! From showing up early, to set up being pristine, to rocking out for the entire time (without a break!) I reviewed a couple dozen performers before my event and I am very pleased to say I got the best one of the group! I can't wait to hear Ryan play again soon and will always hire him for events going forward! A true pleasure and brought such a great vibe and life to the party! Thank you!

If I could give Ryan and his band members a thousand stars I would!! Ryan is a true professional...and the sweetest, most accommodating person to deal with. After our original band canceled for our wedding (due to the lead member moving out of country), I was panicked. I came into contact with Ryan and went to go see him perform solo at a local venue. I loved his style and his personality. My fiancé and I booked him along with 3 other members of his band he works with. We hadn't seen him as a full band, which did make me a little nervous, but after seeing him a few more times as a solo act (we even brought friends along for their opinions!) we trusted that this guy knew his music and would do a great job no matter. He sent us a very comprehensive list of songs that he performs, but we were not limited to that...he said he could do anything. We chose a bunch of songs we liked and then sat down with him to discuss details of our wedding and the "vibe" we were going for. Ryan was very receptive to everything and told us not to worry about a thing..he knew what we were looking for and what we would like. For our wedding, we were having the band play for the first 3 hours and then Ryan was going to finish out by DJ-ing for the remainder of the reception, and DJ during the band's breaks. We also had a few songs (like our wedding song) that we specifically wanted as DJ. In hindsight, I wish we would've had Ryan's band perform the wedding song because they are AMAZING!!! I cannot even put into words how BEYOND OUR EXPECTATIONS this band was. I figured they would be great because I had seen Ryan and he was great..but adding a few more fantastic musicians to this man's talent brought it to another level. I still have guests messaging me about the band and the range of music they were able to perform. People were on the dance floor all night! And the band actually ended up playing longer than originally planned. It was a New Year's Eve wedding and Ryan and his band definitely brought the party! I have been to many weddings and have seen 8, 10, 12 piece bands and none have compared to Ryan and his band at our wedding! Ryan was also great at being a DJ, as well. He read the crowd and played songs everyone wanted to hear. I recommend Ryan and his band wholeheartedly and trust that if you hire him, you'll be as impressed as me, my groom, and all of our guests were!

Ryan was so special to our wedding day! We couldn't stop hearing about how much our guests LOVED him and his music. He was the most perfect fit both musically and personally. His calm, reassuring, and kind nature made us feel so comfortable--we knew from the first conversation he would be perfect for our special day. Ryan went above and beyond for us, even working on and creating an original Bob Marley mash-up for us for our walk down the aisle. We adore Ryan and can't thank him enough for making our day so special!

I feel compelled to alert other directors of bands, orchestras, and choirs of our experience with Manhattan Concert Productions. It absolutely pains me to write this review, as my ensembles (a suburban New York high school band and a tier one research university band) had a 10-year plus relationship with MCP prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, performing regularly at their events as a “local” group, providing MCP with consistent EXTRA revenue and top musical performances *on top of* their already highly profitable concerts that featured out-of-town groups. After MCP cancelled our scheduled March 30, 2020 Lincoln Center/David Geffen Hall performance, MCP made the business decision to refuse full refunds to our students, citing the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic as their rationale. I began the process of trying to rationally explain our position to MCP in April, 2020, shortly after I was informed by Craig Arnold, CEO, that they intended to not refund all monies paid by our school and the other universities on the program.  MCP chose to refund only a portion of each student’s fees paid and repeatedly made it clear that they would not reconsider. As a result of the egregious corporate greed and devastatingly destructive business relationship myopia of Manhattan Concert Productions, each one of my students had $100 of their money kept by MCP. The irony, of course, is that their own contract terms state in item #6 that should a concert be cancelled by MCP, all monies would be refunded in full. (See the picture attached, which includes item #6-refunds). MCP argued to our legal counsel that they did not cancel the concert. They believe that the pandemic cancelled the concert, absolving them of the legal necessity to refund all monies in full. They know that it is cost-prohibitive for universities and K-12 institutions to sue them in court, so they have made the decision to keep money and cite the pandemic for cover.

The vast majority of vendors who deal with student groups have acted responsibly and honorably during the pandemic.  I am dismayed and saddened that MCP chose not to act in the same manner, but I can assure you that we tried our very best to convince them of the need to act responsibly and in good faith. As a result of their continued refusal to honor the terms of our contract, MCP will no longer be an authorized vendor for either my university band or my high school band, and ANY group under my direction at ANY point from this point forward will no longer attend any MCP functions.  Looking forward, we have already been contacted by other Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center concert promoters who have stellar reputations and have behaved responsibly during the pandemic.  I feel certain that we will return to Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center under a new partnership in 2022 and beyond.

These difficult times have taught us who our real business friends and partners are. Our world is a small world of directors who know each other and talk to each other. I am available to share my experience (and the 9 month process it took to get only a partial refund for a cancelled concert) with anyone who wishes to email me. Caveat emptor.

Well said in the last review "corporate greed at its finest" - This company is refusing to refund approximately $12K total from all paying families for a cancelled high school spring break performance at Carnegie Hall due to Covid (that equates to almost $200 per family). They are claiming that's their fee for the "work" they did. IF YOU THINK IT'S OK TO CHARGE $12K FOR MAKING A FEW PHONE CALLS (THAT MONEY COMING FROM SEVERAL FAMILIES IN NEED - WHO KNOWS, MAYBE EVEN PARENTS THAT ENDED UP BEING LAID OFF DUE TO COVID), THEN THERE IS A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL FOR YOU.

Highly Unethical!! They refused to cancel a trip scheduled for a group of high school students to sing at Carnegie Hall, even in the midst of a pandemic when travel to New York was unsafe, Carnegie Hall cancelled the performance and hotels were not booking rooms. If they didn't cancel, they could keep a $500 deposit from each student.

Like the other people on here our daughter was supposed to go to a concert there in March. They kept $500 of our money since it was cancelled due to covid. We received a letter from them about how they were under no obligation to refund anything since the cancellation was out of their control. I guess somehow it was in our control so they kept the money. I understand a reasonable fee to process but this is outright theft. Beware when dealing with this company. Our school has already decided to no longer offer the trip to the students due to this. So I guess they made free money off of the parents this year but they will never get another dime from us or our school. Corporate greed at its finest.

As a single parent of three boys, I struggled to come up with funds it would take to send my youngest to Carnegie Hall for a once in a lifetime trip in March 2020. Additionally, I made certain I would be there as a chaperone to watch my son play on the stage at CH. In total, I was able to sacrifice to come up with nearly $3000 for this trip. Unfortunately, MCP had to cancel our trip due to Covid19. Understandably, this is out of their control. What isn't out of their control is the inability to communicate with me when I should anticipate reimbursement. It's now June and I'm offered no explanation, no plan, nothing other than referring me back to Hillsborough County Schools, who is struggling to get any kind of action with this company. My son will not be returning to orchestra, so rescheduling isn't an option for me. As a single parent who lost 40% of her income, I understand the struggle during this unprecedented time. This money would have been such a HUGE help in what has been a very stressful time for my boys and I. I feel completely helpless, taken advantage of as a person with little means to demand action and disappointed in this company.

Many students paid over $1,000 to MCP for a New York trip that was cancelled by Carnegie Hall due COVID-19. MCP stated they will only do a partial refund and that they are not required to issue a refund at all.

MCP is keeping $400 of each students payments and offering monthly refund installments. Here is the break down:

Amount Received: $1,034.00
Non-Refundable: $400.00
Refund Amount: $634.00
Installment Amount: $79.25

Not only did these middle schoolers lose a trip of a lifetime, but parents who worked hard to save this money are being punished for something out of their control.

I in joyed this so will you.

I attended the Imaginary Symphony on October 5. The event took place at the Schlesinger Arts Center. The perform was great. The conductor is entertaining and energetic. He came out whistling a tune that would be played that night. Really nice time and the wine at intermission was a bonus.

Beautiful scenario. It provides an amazing urban modern vibe and at the same time a solemn space for performing arts.

JFA supports senior musicians.

Fantastic! ❤️

Saw them at Sala Neza and Bellas Artes in Mexico City, most wonderful concerts

Beautiful music, a wonderful program! We need more!

Best orchestra experience!! Biggest musical family.

Excellent initiative and orchestra. Congrats!

The acoustic in this place is absolutely adequate for music. The staff is very nice, and they offer a variety of options when it comes to rental services. It has elevators, so it has wheelchair access to all halls. Major halls have Steinway pianos and you can ask for tuning services. Overall, great rental experience.

The increased rules for no outside food, no outside water put a damper on the event. Water had to be purchased in 8 oz. bottles for $1. That seems counterintuitive when running a wine festival. Esther Short Park is a lovely setting. The Saturday line up was lower energy than last year. But Shemekia Copeland and her band were worth waiting for. Probably will not attend again.

One of the best choruses in the region. I love Candlelight Christmas.

These guys charge amateurs to perform in famous venues, then sell the tickets for dirt cheap. They have a big headliner that does a short set to make it seem legit. Be prepared for a terrible line of opening acts.

Cary Hall is great for larger groups or larger audience. Benzaquen is great for groups less than 45. Mostly a rehearsal space as it is smaller than Cary so limited space for audience. Overall both great spaces that limit sound escaping into other spaces.

Excellente!

Awesome concert. Loved the surprise end.

Rupp

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So not worth the $30 price.
I'll take part of the blame because I did not know I had to bring my own lawn chair to this event, so it was very uncomfortable sitting on the grass for an extended period of time.
Food was subpar, county fair style; got some dense starchy noodles from a hawaiian food stall.
Wine was ok, nothing special, but they must have had volunteers manning the booths, because the people working had no knowledge or excitement about their product.
The one act I saw was great, unfortunately the whole event was not conducive to sticking around for more.

I should have just walked away when they made me leave my water bottles at the door... seems like others got the hint as there were more attendees at the farmers market next door than at the wine festival.

(New 2022) I originally wrote this review in 2015 and nothing has changed. I’d hoped with time off from covid and more the organization & event would have gotten better. But no. One month out of the 2022 festival is when they finally released the music talent names- and again it’s lame basic talent. I am sure the food and wine will be too. This could be so amazing if they’d put forth effort. Go big or go home!!!

….Hopefully 2015 will be better than last year. The festival seems to be going downhill, almost as if they are trying to kill it. Same entertainment as previous years- while good, let's get some new blood PLEASE! And the wines? They contract in the big name distributors, so we see way too many California and supermarket mass produced wines. Meanwhile, we are living in the Northwest- home to some of the most amazing wines in the world!! Maryhill is local, but they are no where near as good as whats from Oregon or even farther out in the Washington hills. And then there is the food. We are a captive audience inside the fence. We need to eat. Last year it was hot dogs and fried food, and basically that was all!! Nothing that goes with wine (cheese? Pizza?) and nothing edible. This could again be a wonderful, worldwide event if the right people got their acts together. Esther Short park is the perfect place for this. Bring back the glory days. Get decent wine, food & music!!

Jessica

With the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center practically within view of Alexandria, it would be easy to overlook other orchestras in the area. However, the Alexandria Symphony is "a force to be reckoned with" [The Washington Post]. Maestro Kim Allen Kluge and his ensemble produce exciting performances including something for the whole family, from classical favorites to film scores.