Appassionata Players

John Harper and his team at Apassionata Players were perfect for our wedding ceremony. This was the third time my family used Apassionata Players as John Harper and his team are responsive and helpful throughout the entire planning process. He has has a solid music repertoire and his musicians are also willing to play songs that are not in their catalog. The string duo musicians were professional and timely and were the perfect addition to our ceremony! They got it all right. Thank you, Appassionata Players!

Many of our guests let us know how blown away they were by the performance of Appassionata Players. The trio played perfectly for our ceremony and delighted everyone with their talent during the cocktail hour as well. Their attire was classy and professional. They were accommodating to our song requests and super helpful in all our decisions. Appassionata Players added an amazing, elegant and highly personal touch to our ceremony and cocktail hour. There is no comparison to just playing a CD. John at Appassionata Players is great. They are definitely one of the reasons our wedding was spectacular and unforgettable !

John and the appassionata team were a god sent for our wedding. Numerous people present at our wedding commented on how beautiful there music was during ceremony and cocktail hour. We Would highly recommend appassionata players for your wedding.

It was really easy working with John and the team for our wedding, and they did a wonderful job with all of our selections. They were prompt, professional, and played beautifully. Even for the songs we requested that weren't in their repertoire, they learned them just for us and sounded as if they had been playing them for years!

Appassionata Players provided the music for our daughter's wedding ceremony and did a beautiful job. Our guests said the music was lovely and all of our instructions and requests were followed to a "t". Thank you Appassionata Players for your contributions to making the wedding day so perfect!

I would highly recommend Appassionata Players!! From the beginning, John was extremely helpful and even accommodated our request to add a violinist to what we had originally planned as just 1 cellist for our ceremony music only a few months before our wedding. They are as talented as they are professional, and their music is absolutely beautiful. My husband and I could not have been happier with our ceremony music from them!

The Appassionata Players are INCREDIBLE. When it came time to choosing ceremony music, I always wanted a string trio to play more modern/rock songs. John was open to my recommendations of Dave Matthews, David Bowie etc and when they played on the strings, everyone was in awe. Absolutely beautiful. Not only are the Appassionata Players beyond talented but they are also a pleasure to work with. John is very responsive, helpful and open to suggestions. Thank you so much for adding such a beautiful and unforgettable element to my wedding. I HIGHLY recommend the Appassionata Players!!

John and Appassionata were the perfect string trio for our ceremony. John answered all our questions leading up to the ceremony, arrived early with the trio, and learned all the pieces we asked of them. Our guests all raved about how great it was to hear them before, during and after the ceremony - they really were the perfect addition to finish off the ceremony. John's professionalism really stood out and made hiring them super easy. Would definitely recommend them for all future events!

They were responsive to emails and open to different song suggestions. Their music was stunning helping to create the most perfect and romantic atmosphere. Halo performed in a string version was powerful evoking emotions that can not be brought into words. The talent and professionalism was apparent. This talented group of musicians helped make our wedding an incredible experience. Thank you again- Marisa and Dan

Had a great experience with John and the Appassionata Players. We went with a duo for our ceremony music, and could not be happier. John was very responsive to my emails from the very beginning, and I didn't have to do anything other than request my songs; they took care of the rest! I was able to listen to some of the prelude music as I waited for the ceremony to start, and it was beautiful. My guests enjoyed it too, and remarked that the song choices were very "us," even though we mostly let the musicians decide what to play. They must either have a sixth sense, or they can read the feel of an event very well! Super satisfied, and highly recommend.

They were great and very open to anything we wanted and able to suggest things if we weren't sure what we wanted. They play wonderfully and did a great job.

This ensemble played at our family wedding and added so much to the ceremony and reception. The music was absolutely lovely and helped create a truly romantic setting. We can’t recommend them enough.

Wanting to give my niece and her fiancé a special wedding gift, I arranged for the Appassionata Players to perform at their ceremony and cocktail hour in September 2018 at Murray's in Tivoli, New York. This trio brings beautiful music and fine musicians to any event, and working with John to make the wedding memorable was a pleasure. They are known for their professionalism, promptness and performance; I highly recommend The Appassionata Players.

Loved working with the Appassionata Players! John was very easy to communicate with, very responsive. We requested three country songs to play for our ceremony and our expectations were exceeded. Would definitely recommend this group!

My sister asked me to write a short piece for her walk down the aisle (you know, no pressure...) and being a piano player I had never written for strings and being in another city I wouldn't be able to hear it fully until the moment, so it was a little worrisome. Turns out I had nothing to fear, theses players are impeccably professional, so very open and collaborative, warm and wonderful people and stellar musicians. It was just a delight to hear their work and so satisfying to have them take a stranger's music and make it sing. So thankful, so grateful. Hire them!

The Appassionata Players were awesome! I would absolutely recommend them. My wife and I got married at The Grandview. The Appassionata Players played for the ceremony. John Harper was very easy to work with. We selected songs that were in the repertoire and some that were not and they were happy to learn and arrange all of the songs we wanted. They played beautifully and their music helped to create the atmosphere we wanted for the ceremony. We were so happy!

John Harper and his fellow musicians did a beautiful job for our ceremony at Monteverde at Oldstone in the Hudson Valley. We had two ceremonies back to back celebrating two different cultures (both Hindu and Christian), which was complex to plan as it involved two sets of musicians, outfit changes, different rituals, and priests, etc. John was extremely easygoing throughout the entire process, agreed to play all of our song choices (and even customize them to ones that weren't on their original list!), and was such a pleasure to work with. We also loved their music-- soulful and just perfect for walking down the aisle and remembering our special day and moments! I am a musician myself (I play four instruments including violin and piano!), so having live music at my wedding was a must. After playing violin myself for over 20 years, I also have quite high standards for strings :) I am so happy that I chose Appassionata Players for my day, and would highly recommend them to any other lucky couple!

I wish I could give more stars! Working with John and his amazingly talented trio was so easy! They were so quick to respond to my emails and were able to play and rearrange the songs we wanted to make our chapel ceremony absolutely perfect! We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful way to celebrate our ceremony than with the Appassionata Players! We would highly recommend them to anyone!

The Appassionata Players added the perfect touch to our ceremony and cocktail hour. The string trio was exactly what we were looking for. We were planning this wedding in New Paltz from out of town and the communication between John was excellent especially leading up to the wedding. He answered all of our questions promptly and accommodated all of our needs and requests. They played a mixture of classical, oldies and modern music and it was absolutely wonderful. We could not have been happier with our choice to use Appassionata Players and 100% recommend them.

We booked two violinists and a cellist from the Appassionata Players for our ceremony on the hill at Red Maple Vineyard in November. John was so easy to work with and played all the music we requested from our ceremony, despite many of them not being on the repertoire on the website. Definitely book John, you will not regret it!

John was easy to communicate with throughout our entire planning process. Their group website was easy to navigate and we were able to listen to samples of their songs. On our wedding day everyone sounded amazing. We received so much praise for their performance during our cocktail hour as well. Would definitely recommend to all future brides!

We definitely made the right choice hiring Appassionata Players! Communication with John has been seemless throughout the whole process and, on the day of the wedding, they went above and beyond to deal with all the last-minute happenings (for instance, the bus coming to New Paltz from NYC was late, so they had to play the prelude twice). Everybody complimented us on the music and we couldn't be any happier about how everything went!

Appassionata Players were easy to work with, quick to respond to emails and questions, and FABULOUS day of. They played at our ceremony and cocktail hour. They were familiar with the space (Locust Grove) so they knew where to set up for the sound. We received so many compliments on their playing during the cocktail hour, they had a great mix of classical and pop songs, that added to the atmosphere.

What can I say, other than amazing! Very responsive to my multitude of questions, open and honest about what to expect and how everything would work, and willing to work with me every step of the way to make our day special. From start to finish, the Appassionata Players were professional and courteous the whole way through! We worked together to make sure the mood was fun and exciting for all involved. Our guests had a blast, and I will definitely recommend them to anyone in the area!

The Appassionata Players were wonderful for my wedding! They played everything that I asked and even found an arrangement of a piece from the Harry Potter soundtrack that I wanted for my bridal processional. John, the main contact of the group was very professional and easy to work with. I highly recommend them for your wedding ceremony!

We hired Appassionata to play music during our wedding ceremony on July 29th of this year. The music was beautiful and they were very accommodating for specific song choices. Correspondence with John via email was always timely and professional. This group is a top notch pick for anyone looking to add a touch of elegance to their wedding! Highly recommend them to anyone!

They were amazing! Super talented bunch. They played at our cocktail hours. Played exactly what we wanted! It gave our cocktail hours such a nice vibe and set the tone for the reception! They were also super professional and easy to work with!

The Appassionata Players played for both our ceremony and cocktail hour and they were wonderful! We even had some special requests they were more than happy to accommodate. I highly recommend them!!

Appassionata Players did such an amazing job on our big day! They were very professional, arrived on time and set up on their own while I was having pictures taken. We were able to pick specific songs which made our wedding more personal. Unfortunately, I only had the opportunity to hear the music while i was walking down the aisle, but what I heard was beautiful and the guests raved about the music as well. I would definitely recommend Appassionata Players to those looking for musicians!

We hired Appassionata Players to perform as a string trio for our wedding ceremony. They were very professional, sounded fantastic and really made the ceremony! At our request, they put together a version of “Then He Kissed Me” which was perfect and great way to end the ceremony and lead into cocktail hour. I highly recommend Appassionata players!

We used Appassionata Players (string duo) for our wedding at Dutchess Manor on September 23rd. John was great to work with, and I'm so happy we made the decision to go with him! My husband and I wanted to be sure our ceremony music reflected us, which meant not the typical classical music you hear at weddings. When we sent John a list of songs we were interested in, he was more than accommodating and said they would all work- we were thrilled! Although we didn't get to hear a lot of the ceremony music ourselves, my guests told me how beautiful it was, and added such a nice touch to our wedding. Highly recommend Appassionata Players to anyone! Thanks John!

The appassionata players were amazing!! We got married this past Sunday and had the group play during our ceremony as well as the cocktail hour. The music was phenomenal and they have a broad range of genres, which worked perfectly for us. John was organized and very responsive when I reached out with questions. I am so happy we went with this group and would highly recommend them to any other bride/groom for a wedding or even just a party!

We had a rustic outdoor barn wedding and the Appassionata Players were the finishing touch. They showed up early to set up, were very professional and well dressed, played everything we requested, and even stayed longer than they were supposed to due to our shuttle bus being delayed. Commutation with John via email was always pleasant and we received a prompt response answering any questions we had. We would recommended the Appassionata Players to anyone looking for an elegant string trio to play at their wedding.

We recently hired John and his trio for our Sept. wedding at Locust Grove. John was easy to work with and flexible with song requests. The music for our ceremony and cocktail hour was absolutely wonderful. We received many compliments and I would highly recommend him to other couples!

The Appassionata Players were AMAZING! From the first communication with John about playing at our wedding, to the actual wedding day, there is not a single thing I would change. John was very responsive to emails throughout the entire planning process. The day of the trio showed up on time and played our ceremony and cocktail hour just as we had discussed in our planning. I am so lucky to have found this group. Thank you for making our wedding day perfect!

They are amazing!! They were attentive to all my requests and needs. Very reliable. My guests were so pleased with the music that was being played during my ceremony. My wedding could not have been any more perfect thanks to Appassionata Players. We loved you!!! We highly recommend everyone to use them. :)

John and the Appassionata Players were absolutely brilliant! We originally hired them as a string duo for our wedding ceremony, but decided later on to make them a trio. We communicated via email (we are in NC and our wedding was in NY) and John was very timely with his responses to us. He even gave us a slight discount on adding the 3rd string and didn't charge us a travel fee. We told John we wanted the music to be familiar - we really didn't want too much "classical" music played. We asked him if they could play "Best Day of My Life" by American Authors as our recessional song, and when he said they could I was a little amazed and almost didn't believe it. But after we kissed for the first time as husband and wife, I heard it!!! It was really incredible! We had a small snafu with our payment. We sent Appassionata Players a deposit and owed them the balance on the day of. We gave envelopes of payment to our wedding planner for all our vendors, but left the envelope for AP at our house! During our receiving line, our planner asked if we had it... we told her we must have left it at the house and she said it was no problem. She paid our balance for us and we squared up afterwards. We ended up mailing the tip to AP along with a thank you note the next day. John emailed me letting me know he got it and that he was so happy they could provide the music for us. We are really happy that they didn't mind that we mailed their tip the next day and didn't make a big deal about it during our receiving line! The Appassionata Players were FANTASTIC! They played all modern songs that we requested - we got a ton of compliments on the music from our guests. Overall we would HIGHLY recommend them!!

Appassionata players were great, amazing, awesome! We can't say enough about them. We had a very small ceremony for our 1/2/16 wedding but I really wanted music for our guests and the entrance and exit. They were easy to work with, played beautiful music and even took a special request. I know one of the players personally, Gretchen and was seeking her out especially about playing for us. She told me about Appassionata players and I booked them right away! I!

My husband and I hired the Appassionata Players for our 11/8/15 wedding . They really added a romantic and personal touch to our wedding ceremony with their music.Their playing was just beautiful . It was a pleasure to hire such professional and gifted people to be apart of our special day.Everything was perfect we couldn't have asked for more !Thank you so much :)

The Appassionata Players performed exactly how I had imagined. They elevated the experience of our mass by performing traditional and more modern songs prior to our ceremony and during the entrance and exit. They even performed my request of "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri for the bridesmaids entrance! The group was easy to work with, responsive, reliable and talented, which as a bride is exactly what you are looking for. I highly recommend Appassionata Players for weddings and other events!

The Appassionata Players were amazing! The process of reserving and scheduling their time was extremely easy, freeing our time to focus on other items. They were respectful to our music needs, offered advice, and the result was incredible. When our officiant learned that we hired Appassionata, she was delighted—stating that they are such a joy to work-with (further putting our minds a ease). Having a string trio was a dream of my lovely bride and the Appassionata Players greatly exceeded our expectations.

The Appassionata Players added so much to our ceremony. They were super easy to work with and added so much to our ceremony. We received many compliments. Thank you so much!

We booked the Appassionata Players for our wedding ceremony in July 2015 and it was one of the best choices we made while planning our wedding! They couldn't have been more professional - just wonderful to work with. The music was beautiful - the selection perfect for our ceremony. We highly recommend them for any special event - you won't be disappointed!

John Harper and the Apassionata Players really made our wedding day special. They learned specific music just for us, and added beautiful music to our cocktail hour and ceremony. John answered e-mails quickly and was very helpful. He is professional and reliable. I highly recommend this trio!

These musicians did a great job at our wedding they played a selection of wonderful pop songs for our entrance and played "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey for our exit. The crowd loved it and they really enhanced our wedding ceremony with their talent. Jon is very nice and communicative and will work with you to get just what you want!

The Appassionata Players did an amazing job during our wedding ceremony. They struck just the right tone (and all the right notes!). John was very easy to work with and extremely communicative and pleasant. I give them the highest of recommendations!

The ensemble was a gift from my brother in law. The were on time, professional, wonderful music

Appassionata players played during our church wedding ceremony this past June. Right from the beginning John was a true professional. He responded via email with everything and answered every question that we had. He helped with selecting music options. One thing that my guests raved about was the music before the ceremony started. It is hard to find an ensemble that will play 30 minutes before the ceremony. I would highly recommend this group to any couple who is looking!

Chose Appassionata Players based on the long, fabulous list of reviews, and were every bit as impressive as I learned. A wedding at Oak Hill, Hudson, N.Y, 9/12/15 was such a special event thanks to their incredible talent. A talented, musical, groomsman, rather late in the planning of this, wanted to play and sing a piece during the ceremony. John was asked to accompany him, and after a few facetime rehearsals, and 5 mins before the ceremony began, they pulled it off. It was terrific. So accommodating, and really exceptional musicians, I would not ever consider another group to play at any event!! Thanks so much Appassionata!

Appassionata Players were the perfect choice for our wedding. John was very accommodating and easy to work with. They learned three songs that we chose and blended them seamlessly with their own classical pieces. We had some crazy weather right before our outdoor ceremony but they were true professionals and set up inside and then moved outside as soon as the rain stopped. Multiple people commented on how wonderful the string quartet was during before and during the ceremony. We were so happy with our decision to hire Appassionata Players and recommend them to anyone looking for quality musicians!

5 whole-hearted stars, with the one regret being that I could not be a seated guest to hear the full array of the pieces performed! The groom and I had requested a rather diverse list of pieces, ranging from movie selections like "Lord of the Rings" to "True Lies" to more classical arrangements of Bach and Vivaldi, yet the trio handled all the requests so masterfully and breezily, creating the perfect balance of elegance and ease for a formal outdoor ceremony.The trio was also very coordinated in timing with the ceremony order, which helped the groom and me with our cues. John Harper handled all the correspondence and communications, and he was always very responsive and accommodating with the utmost professionalism. I cannot recommend Appassionata Players highly enough!

The appassionata players were the perfect choice for ceremony and cocktail hour music at our outdoor wedding. Their repertoire of songs is a perfect mix of modern and classic and everyone at our wedding thought they were wonderful. Not only was the music great, but John was also extremely helpful when it came to choosing my ceremony music and also offered to learn music that they didn't already have. Extremely happy with my choice to use them!

We had a small ceremony, so just a duo was all we needed. We requested special songs for our entrance and exit. I just sent John links to YouTube videos - I didn't have the music or anything - but they learned the songs and they sounded great. My husband has been following Radiohead for years, and it was wonderful that they could play a recognizable, moving version of the song "Reckoner" for our exit. We really appreciated their work.

We could not be happier with our choice of the Appassionata Players. In the period leading up to the wedding, they guided us through the process of creating a beautiful, customized wedding ceremony experience that would perfectly capture the mood of our natural surroundings. They offered a wide selection of music choices, helpfully categorized for non-experts like us. They also learned a song specifically for our event, and provided wonderful accompaniment to a singer who performed during our ceremony. All in all, they were helpful, professional, and above all, exceptional musicians. Our guests specifically mentioned how lovely the music was. We would recommend them to anyone!

John and The Players were absolutely wonderful!!! They actually converted our wedding song "Just a Kiss" by Lady Antebellum to be played by violin and it was magical. The composition was a surprise for my husband and he loved it!! I would highly recommend Appassionata Players to anyone who wants that perfect touch to their special day!!