About this vendor
Beautiful music together!
Who would you like to provide your wedding ceremony music?
How about a happily married couple with over twenty years of experience – classical musicians who are excited to provide the wedding music of your dreams!
We are Trilla Ray-Carter and Monty Carter. For over twenty years we've served the greater Kansas City area as soloists, ensemble artists, and members of multiple orchestras. Trilla is one of the most versatile cellists in the Midwest, and Monty's strings of choice are violin, viola, and vocal cords. We are both studio instructors with statewide awards from the American String Teachers Association, and we both enjoy composing and arranging music. Trilla is the Artistic Director of the Kansas City Baroque Consortium, and Monty creates effectively fun music for growing musicians.
With all the musical hats we wear, what would you guess remains our favorite freelance engagement? You got it: PLAYING WEDDINGS!
No wedding is "just a gig" to us! Your wedding music is the element that beautifully connects all the other aspects of your service and the celebration that follows, and we cherish the honor of providing it. The musicians who join us are professional colleagues with whom we’ve performed extensively and who share our passion for music-making.
We have an enjoyable way of getting to know you, personally demonstrating the sound of strings in different styles, and assisting you with ensemble and repertoire decisions: we invite the two of you, and whomever else you’d like to bring, to our home in south KCMO for a no-obligation consultation at a time at your convenience. We’ll discuss your ceremony in detail and serenade you with demonstrations of different selections. The experience is moving and fun.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Details
Instruments
- Cello
- Fiddle
- Flute
- Guitar
- Harp
- Keyboard
Music Genres
- Celtic
- Classical
- Folk
- Klezmer
- Pop
- World Music
Music Services
- Live Music
Wedding Activities
- Rehearsals & Parties
- After Party
- Rehearsal Dinner
- Wedding
- After Party
- Ceremony
Pricing
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Reviews
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5
out of 5.012 reviews
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A HUGE thank you to Monty and Trilla for helping make our wedding day so special. From our initial meeting we knew right away that this power duo was just what we needed to help bring our ceremony music to life. They are uber talented, professional, and brought so much life and laughter to the whole planning process. Could not recommend them enough!!
Thank you so much Monty and Trilla! You guys are amazing, kind, attentive, and on point, answering back to emails, calls, changes and concerns. You guys made our wedding extra special! Sampling your live music was also the most fun Sarah and I had wedding planning. Thank you guys!
I knew I couldn’t walk down the aisle without the sound of strings! I mean it, my feet just won’t move.
Monty and Trilla are the cream of the crop, the best of the best, they’re the cat’s meow! (you’ll understand that one once you hire them to play ;))!
We can all recognize songs conventionally played at weddings, but to know the titles and/or composers is another thing, not to mention taking key and tempo into thought. The selection can quickly seem daunting. But not with Carray Music!
Carray Music has expertise, the talent and the patience to guide you along the way. To keep with tradition but adapt to make the ceremony yours! Monty and Trilla take into consideration not only your ceremony music (which is all I had focus on at the time), but also your prelude and your recessional. They fill the air with heavenly sounds!
After e-meeting with the duo, I’d put together the list of songs we’d discussed; but I didn’t need to. Monty and Trilla are organized, on top of all else. The two definitely work well with one another, one could say a harmonious relationship.
I can go on and on with reasons as to why you should hire these two to play at your wedding. They know what they’re doing, they’re reliable, and they bring the best energy. Your guests will be cooing about the sweet symphony.
Any questions?
Monty & Trilla made our wedding day so fun and elegant! They are a pleasure to work with and took time to get to know us and carried out our music wishes beautifully!!! We are so pleased we put our trust in them for our wedding day music!!
Response from the Vendor on 09/26/2020
Stephanie & Rick, thanks so much for your kind words, and CONGRATULATIONS on your wedding! We are so excited for you! Becoming acquainted & thoughts of your beautiful ceremony will bring us smiles for years to come.
Monty and Trilla have been WONDERFUL to work with and everything we could have wanted in our ceremony musicians. You can tell that they are truly passionate about what they do and want to work with their customers to make their weddings as special as possible.
In the beginning, I was a little doubtful about the need for an in-person consultation, but let me tell you, this is a HUGE benefit to booking Carray Music. We didn't have a strong idea of what kind of music we wanted, so they played us a sampling of wide variety until we found the right songs that fit our vibe and really worked to make sure that the music they played was right for us. They even gave us some fun ideas of rituals to add to the ceremony.
I'm so glad that we chose to work with Carray Music and would highly recommend for people looking to make their wedding music more custom and significant to the couple.
Response from the Vendor on 06/25/2020
Thank you so much, Jennifer & Chris! We had a ball with you, and "fitting your vibe" is all the reason we need for having strings on the fingerboard, hair on the stick, and rosin on the bow! :-D We send you our best wishes and look forward to...
staying in touch. yours, Monty & Trilla
Monty and his lovely fellow ensemble members are the LOVELIEST people out there. Monty was the only one I met before the wedding, but he was so invested in making sure our music was perfect and that everyone was happy. He even helped arrange a cantor for our wedding! Their performance at our Mass and cocktail hour was highly complimented and we loved the arrangements they had. They really do mean it when they say "it's not just another gig." We will certainly seek out their performances when we come back to KC in the future!
WE LOVE CARRAY MUSIC!!! Monty and Trilla are so kind and so talented and so fun. Initially we were not sold on booking ceremony musicians, but after meeting with Carray Music the first time, we asked ourselves why we didn't book earlier! Our first meeting was at their house, where they treated us to wine and live music. We had a lovely time with them and Gary, their pianist, and we left feeling like we had known them for years. We went to the meeting with a few songs that we liked, but truthfully we had no idea what we were doing or what to pick. They were patient with us, helping us decide what music would be perfect for our special day. They even came up with an idea to surprise my dad at the ceremony, and I will be forever grateful for that. Their services are maybe $50 more than other musicians in the KC area. They are worth the extra money and much more. Their kindness, knowledge, and love of music makes them an easy choice for any ceremony. We are so happy they were able to play at our wedding, and we would recommend them to absolutely anyone!!
Great music and company
My husband and I live in NYC but were getting married in our hometown of Topeka, KS. Since we aren't able to visit Kansas very often through out the planning process, we scheduled a last minute meeting with Monty and Trilla over the Holidays (which they so graciously worked with us around the crazy holiday schedules). Needless to say we fell in love with Monty and Trilla. It is so clear that they are very passionate about what they do. We walked back out to our car after the meeting and decided we wanted to book them right then and there (even though we still had a few more meetings scheduled with other ensembles that day.. oops). Monty and Trilla will exceed your expectations with charm, fun, charisma and professionalism. They were perfect. I'd recommend them to ANYONE!
Monty and Trilla are amazing! The string trio that performed for our wedding ceremony was perfect thanks to The Carray Ensemble. Monty and Trilla also invited us into their home so they could play for us when we booked them. They also made an arrangement for the string trio and piano when I requested a song for the processional that wasn't traditional and it was beautiful. Exactly as I imagined it would be. Our ceremony would not have been the same without them.
I can't say enough wonderful things about Monty and Trilla! They performed in a string quartet for our wedding ceremony and made it so beautiful. Monty also performed a gorgeous solo of the Lord's Prayer during the lighting of our unity candle. They are so friendly and easy to work with. My husband and I loved meeting with them to pick out the music for our ceremony. They made it fun and played us samples of music I wouldn't have thought of myself. You will not be disappointed if you choose them!!
Friendly made a special arrangement just for us - we loved it.
Contact
10413 Walrond Ave, Kansas City, MO
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