Rittenhouse String Quartet and Ensembles Reviews
Reviews
4.3 out of 5 rating
4.3 out of 5 rating
16 Reviews
87% recommend it
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User1825660 Sent on 09/23/2014Wonderful, very professional group, music was terrific. I'd really recommend them for a wedding. -
User2193971 Sent on 06/23/2015We worked with Rittenhouse String Quartet for our ceremony and cocktail hour. It took a few emails and phone calls to figure out the selections for our ceremony, since my original selections weren't exactly optimized for the quartet format. (I actually would have been fine with a very pared down version of the orchestral score, but I got the impression that they didn't want to compromise on the quality, which I can respect). Regarding communication, they typically responded within 2 days, and their office manager was very nice and pleasant. The music itself was nothing short of gorgeous, and the processional even moved my groom to tears! The cocktail hour music was perfect: great selections, not too loud to overpower conversations, but just loud enough for people to enjoy. Would definitely work with them again! -
![Marie S. (aka Princess Leia)]()
Marie Sent on 10/16/2012The music was like listening to a slice of heaven during our ceremony. It was absolutely beautiful & at times so moving it brought me, my husband & many of our guests to tears.
The process of us getting to the ceremony however was VERY difficult as we did not want music out of a can. If you want Canon in D & other common wedding music selections then it won't be difficult to work with RSQ but if you think out of the box and want your music to be unique then be prepared for the owner to write you emails intimating that you are difficult, micromanaging and should seek other musicians...
Their website says you can have as much control as you'd like picking YOUR music & that services are coordinated via email and phone calls. Be prepared though if you send them a list of music A MONTH IN ADVANCE (9/16) that isn't part of their canned prescription they'll work diligently to put you back into their box & then call you to say you're difficult.
A few more disturbing points of contention-be prepared for emails to take 2-3 days to be responded to & there won't be any phone calls to clear up misunderstandings. Be prepared to find solutions for them-If you have a particular song in mind and do not provide them the exact title they will not help you - I had to send them YouTube videos of the song choices. Only after receiving the videos did they come back & tell me they don't have the arrangements on Strings. I had to suggest a piano & then miraculously they could play it. (we have the emails) It seemed as I was the one finding the solutions for them to play our non-obscure music selections.
Rebuttal: I welcome all brides & grooms to contact me for copies of the emails showing delayed responses, and me providing them the music selection in 4 weeks in advance, ME suggesting the piano and ME doing all of the leg work. And my fav email from RSQ - the belittling email is a true GEM that any bride would love to receive 8 days b/4 the wedding.
Rittenhouse String Quartet and Ensembles's reply:
With all due respect to this client....
This client engaged the services of a violin/cello duo and submitted a music request list one week before their event with music that was
a) largely unplayable for that combination of instruments and
b) incorrectly titled so we could not recognize what music they really wanted.
We engaged in a dialogue (via email) explaining which pieces were possible for violin/cello duo and which were not, but the disappointment and frustration of the client was evident.
Every email was responded to promptly, and the end result was that we found the proper titles, and OUR suggestion of adding a keyboard made it possible for the pieces requested to be played.
While we try to accommodate musical requests, Rittenhouse Music will not compromise our product by playing inappropriate music for the ensemble engaged.
We always offer compromises that will ultimately result in the quality they expect when hiring RSQ.
We are grateful that in the end this client did, in fact, have the music they requested (when they engaged the proper ensemble!) and ultimately rated the product as 5-star. That is what RSQ is known for! -
User2328762 Sent on 09/22/2015We unfortunately had a very negative experience with the business side of Rittenhouse Quartet. The music itself - great! The problem was the owner and how the business is run.
We hired Rittenhouse for our September 2015 wedding back in the spring, sending in the initial deposit and contract. The last we had heard from them was an email in April 2015.
Flash forward to two weeks before our wedding and we had not heard a peep from Rittenhouse. We emailed them asking if they would call and they called once, where I unfortunately missed the call. We called them back and...nothing. We left more messages, but did not hear back. This culminated in my finance texting the owner asking if they would call us back so at least we knew that they were coming! Nothing.
I called them again in desperation two days before my wedding and actually got through and spoke to one of the musicians, who was lovely. The owner then got on the phone and said they needed payment by credit card that moment (which they charge extra for) and would not accept a check day of. She said we had violated the contract by not sending them a final payment two weeks before. I was shocked because we had heard nothing from them since April and then we had, on our own initiative, been trying and trying to touch base with them two weeks before! When I asked if they would not charge us the extra credit card fee, the owner launched into a tirade about how horrible we were. I responded only with "I don't understand?" and she said she just "couldn't deal" and would have someone else call me back. Again, this happened two days before the wedding.
No one ever called back, we just received a terse email saying to pay by credit card that instant or they would not show. So we did.
They did come and the music was lovely. But the whole experience left a sour taste. Completely not responsive, then yelling at the bride two days before her wedding is no way to run a business.Rittenhouse String Quartet and Ensembles's reply:
It is always unfortunate when clients do not read their contracts...We had a long string of correspondences with the groom, which included notification that credit card payments include a surcharge. As a matter of fact, the client originally said they would pay the deposit by credit card and then changed their mind to avoid the surcharge. The contract clearly states that the final payment is due 7 days prior to the event, yet these clients seemed surprised that we required the payment prior to the event, and "disputed" the credit card surcharge, which was the only way to pay since they waited to the last minute to make the final payment. We had no interaction at all with the bride until the week before the wedding, and she did not seem to be aware of any of the information we had exchanged (repeatedly) with the groom, which is why were flabbergasted that she was surprised that there was a payment due, and that there is a surcharge (in print, that they knew about) for credit card payments. In the end, we gave them an excellent product and our musicians received the payment at the wedding that they deserved, despite the fact that we got caught in the middle of the lack of communication between bride and groom regarding the contract they signed and the requirements of payment. We wish them a long, happy life together, and are proud of the music we provided for their wedding
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