Absolutely made our ceremony and cocktail hour so special! 10/10 communication and experienceread more

I booked the String Theory Chamber Ensemble for my grandmother's funeral service. When booking they…read morewere very empathic and easy to work with. They are were able to bring a portable piano and their equipment. I was very happy with their performance. They played beautifully and really added a nice touch to the service

Thank you, Juan and "Cielito Lindo" for coming out to celebrate our Fathers 91st birthday. We…read moretruly enjoyed your music. We will see you in August.

Incredible. This family is just amazing. My boyfriend hired Cielito Lindo to come play at my…read morebirthday dinner and everyone was BLOWN AWAY. I was too enraptured to get much video, but the sound was as beautiful as the family. They absolutely made the night so fun and special not just for me, but the entire restaurant! Everyone was up from their tables dancing and laughing together. I Just can't recommend this group enough!!! Thank you for sharing your talent with us!!

DJ Aumir was superb and great to work with! He kept the party alive all night and didn't miss a…read morebeat. He was so good that our guests couldn't stop raving about the vibe and music the next few days. We definitely gave him a challenge with our music selection, but he seamlessly blended the different genres without missing a beat. I'm normally a harsh critic of DJs, especially when they don't know how to mix well, but this was far from the case with DJ Aumir. Hard to find anything bad to say! If you're looking for a solid DJ who will keep you on your feet all night, definitely connect with him. You won't be disappointed!

DJ Aumir was truly unbelievable. From the very beginning, he was both an incredible collaborator…read moreand an endless source of creative inspiration. We gave him a few playlists to share our overall vibe, and he went above and beyond--asking for a detailed breakdown of the energy we wanted at each moment and location throughout our multi-event celebration. Whether it was the ceremony, the rooftop cocktail hour at our pre-wedding sangeet, the themed speakeasy cocktail hour, or the full-on sangeet dance party, he curated each set with intention and total mastery. His mixes were unlike anything we've ever heard. He seamlessly blended Indian, Western, reggaeton, Afrobeats, Bollywood, and more, creating unique mashups that fit the mood and the venue perfectly. The sangeet reception mashup he crafted was out of this world. I had at least ten guests come up to me asking if he would make a mix just so they could relive the night and use it for their own weddings. Beyond his talent, Aumir's energy, professionalism, detail-oriented-ness, and creativity made him a dream to work with. His timing was flawless, his lighting and setup brought every space to life, and he executed every moment with passion and precision. He is a rare gem, and it would honestly be a mistake not to hire him. Highly, highly recommended!

Paul and his band were absolutely fantastic at our wedding. They ROCKED all night long and put on…read morean overall GREAT SHOW! They were super easy to work with throughout the process and then totally exceeded our expectations on the big night. I could not recommend them more highly

The Z Orchestra just performed at our Wedding on June 18th. They are just the best! We had a…read morevariety of styles - something for everyone. Paul is very easy to work with and makes a tremendous effort to give you the music you want. He is also a wonderful MC. All of the band members were top notch- the singers were awesome. Everyone danced the night away! Thank you -Paul Zimmerman and the Z Orchestra. Andrea and Bill

We booked a jazz trio with Northside Brass for our outdoor wedding cocktail hour and dinner. The…read moretrio was a fantastic addition to our intimate evening! Ryan was very knowledgeable when working with our wedding venue and made our planning process that much easier. On top of everything, the musicians were professional and sounded amazing (despite performing in suits in 90-degree weather). They set the perfect tone for our outdoor event and our first dance as a married couple! Thank you Northside Brass!

We were absolutely thrilled with the music at my daughter and son-in-law's wedding. Sarah on…read moretrumpet and the string quartet all did a superb job! We are so grateful for their outstanding skill and artistry. And Ryan, you were the most wonderful person to work with on the music...you were responsive and flexible and SO fun to work with. The music really was flawless...we were overjoyed. THANK YOU.

Had Josh come to a party I threw as a DJ and would highly recommend him…read more While he had his own style and didn't need any specific input, he was also open to suggestions about what I was interested in having - did a great job of combining what I was looking for with a bit of his own plan so it didn't get boring or repetitive.

My husband and I hired Chicago movers and shakers for our wedding this last past July. When we…read moreoriginally hired josh last summer in August we were really excited. He is personable, seemed organized and he was very quick to respond. So we hired him and continued to plan our wedding without thinking about it twice. Now, I know that June, July and August is the busiest time of the year for anybody in the wedding business and I know that this is Josh's side job. Nevertheless, he was practically unreadable the month before my wedding. I tried calling him the day of my wedding and he did not even respond or call me back. I went into the church not knowing if I had a dj or not. When I got to my venue josh had just arrived and was setting up. He was supposed to arrive two hours ahead of time and he barely made it an hour before. I had also hired him to play a slideshow that my mother spent hours putting together of my husband and I in addition to a black and white movie. We had previously discussed which wall it would go on. I walk into the space and the projector was set up on the wrong wall and it was so close to the wall that we couldn't even see the beautiful slide show that my mother put together clearly. It was heartbreaking. As far as the actual music part, he played good song choices. However, he played them all the way to the end, no dj skills to transition from one song to the other. Honestly, I could have put on Spotify or Pandora and it would have been the same. I had to also tell him when to play the father daughter dance and had to signal him when to stop the song so that we could play the first dance song. All in all it was not a good experience. I'm a big Yelp and review person and I am not quite sure how he got so many good reviews but he definitely dropped the ball at my wedding big time. His services left a lot to be desired from.

We LOVE MaryMonica and the talented DJ Chris! MaryMonica is the very wonderful and understanding…read morepresident of MaryMonica Music & Entertainment, Inc. We were like many couples, being impacted by the pandemic and needing to reschedule... three times. MaryMonica was our point of contact as we ventured through the unknown territory of planning a wedding through COVID. She truly is committed to making sure her clients are able to have the day they envision for entertainment! I can't express my gratitude to how kind and flexible she was as we changed dates quickly and made sure we got our favorite DJ Chris to be part of this big day! We hope one day we can meet in person to truly express our gratitude. Our DJ was Chris! He met in person as well as had a conference call to get to know me and my fiancé as a couple as well as understand what sort of vibe we wanted for the evening. We really appreciated the random texts we would send in the off-work hours, in the evenings or on the weekends, where we never felt like a bother. Rather, you could feel DJ Chris' enthusiasm and excitement to work with us and provide us with his expert feedback! Through the evening, I would often use his DJ booth as a place to catch a breath and regroup :)he is a calming presence in a very whirl-winded day! I would wholeheartedly recommend DJ Chris. You will not regret having him be part of your wedding dream team!

After being recommended DJ Chris for our wedding by a friend, we decided to book him through…read moreMaryMonica Music. He was BEYOND wonderful. He listened to all of our requests, played all the right parts of the songs, and his transitions were excellent. Our number one goal was for everyone to be out on the dance floor all night, and with DJ Chris spinning, our guests never left the dance floor. We recently attended another wedding of a couple who also used DJ Chris. He once again did not disappoint! Transitions were spot on and the dance floor was super fun. We would recommend DJ Chris to anybody who is planning a wedding and wants to make sure the dance floor is packed all night! Thanks Chris for making our day so special and fun!

Four violins, two violas, 2 cellos, and a string bass later, Sarah and I decided that this was the…read moreperfect blend for the acoustics at the Art Institute Modern Wing. Our repertoire was most classical waltzes and Puccini scores, mixed with some Mancini. Symphony Sounds pulled it all off, much to the delight of some more serious classical buffs in our audience. It was a true pleasure to work with Sarah. She even recorded my bridal march, Un Bel Di, during practice and sent it to me so I could get a sense of timing. All our communications were long distance, yet the music and ceremony were executed beautifully. I only wish I could have heard all of the pre and post music myself. My guests continue to rave about the music and how lovely it sounded.

I admit that I had to do a little considering before adding the 5th star…read more There was a problem at our wedding in late August but the owner did the best she could and the performance was great. Thus, there was never any consideration for giving a bad review. The question was whether to give the "perfect" score. Sometimes bad things occur beyond someone's control. They did the best they could do under the circumstances, including the owner offering more than I could conscientiously accept. They performed spectacularly, despite the owner probably believing she would be paid nothing for her performance and hard work. None of the audience ever even knew there was a problem. In mulling it over, that ability to actually turn lemons into lemonade shows more professionalism than simply doing so under the best conditions. The best parts were the quality of the performers, their choice of music, and the cheerfulness of the performance. Every one of our guests were throughly entranced by the music! I therefore enthusiastically recommend Symphony Sounds for your wedding or other event.

I had a bunch of friends and family comment on how fantastic it was having live music at our…read morewedding! We attended a wedding a year ago and fell in love with the live band at the cocktail hour! We met David and we knew we'd be working with him once it was our time. We had people on the dancefloor the entire night and I didn't even have a chance to eat dessert!

A Great Wedding Band…read more Wedding Date 2.1.25 As Father of the Bride, I thought that DSR Music was the best and that the music helps make the wedding reception a great and memorable one. The band members and vocalists are so talented and energetic in all genres of music making each song fun to dance to. The dance floor was packed all night and we received complements for weeks about the quality of the band and how much fun the wedding was. David Rothstein does a great job as the MC for the night but the benefits of using DSR start long before the wedding day. David takes the time to get to know the wedding couple and their family, understand what is important to them at the wedding, learn the type of music they are interested in hearing and provides special touches for the bride and groom. I think so highly of DSR Music that I used them for my oldest daughter's wedding in 2016 and my niece used them as well.