October Weddings in San Antonio

October has been a whirlwind of weddings and events. We'll have to come back and add to our postings. October is always really popular, which means REALLY BUSY! The weather starts to cool (as in high 80's versus low 100's, ha) and it is the perfect time for family and friends to gather and travel for celebrations of all kinds.

There is nothing like the charm of an old fashioned church. We played a wedding at a charming little church in the southeast side of San Antonio. Can it get any cuter?

This was October 16th at St. Ann Catholic Church.

Groove City Band performed at the Pearl Stable. We had the pleasure to feature San Antonio's illustrious saxophonist, Richard Oppenheim, playing alto sax with us that night. The band played a wide range of songs, everything from Tiny Dancer by Elton John, a favorite of the bride's mother, all the way to the traditional Italian Tarantella, for a family dance tradition.

Nice view from the altar at the Mother House Chapel. Shh... Don't tell anyone, but photographers are not allowed back here to take pictures. But we're not photographers! (wink!)

JW Marriott Wedding in San Antonio TX

Recently, Allegretto Music has been performing weddings at the JW Marriott quite frequently. For the last one we played there our string trio performed Wonderful Tonight, the classic by Eric Clapton.

With the rising popularity of the recordings put out by San Francisco's record label, under the name "Vitamin Strings", more and more people are requesting string renditions of popular Rock and Pop music.

The JW Marriott has a big ceremony area that is surrounded by golf areas and resort buildings.

San Antonio Photo Booths

A Fun Wedding at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens

Photobooth Fun - Jose and Ivette from Allegretto,

with Traci and Ahmed on the last shot of the strip!

Traci and Ahmed had a gorgeous wedding at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens on Sunday, May 30th. They said their vows under the wysteria arbor in the heart of the Gardens. For the recessional march, Allegretto Music wrote a custom arrangement, for violin and harp, of the version of "Over The Rainbow", made famous by the late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.

Although the bride and groom were formally attired, Traci and Ahmed created a wonderful summer garden party ambiance for their reception. Allegretto Music provided the background music for the dinner party, weaving in classical favorites, international music, and even some R&B and contemporary hits.

Another highlight of this wedding, the fun photobooth provided by DPC Media Services. Traci and Ahmed jumped into the booth with us for the last shot on our strip. These booths are a lot of fun, and DPC's are super cool, printed in color, with a high gloss finish. You can find them online at www.sanantoniophotobooths.com.

San Antonio Symphony Fiesta Pops

The San Antonio Symphony performed four pieces arranged by Allegretto Music director Jose Luis Irizarry for their Fiesta Pops 2010.

The concerts were at the Majestic Theater in downtown San Antonio.

The orchestra sounded wonderful and the music was fun!

Here: Juan Ortíz, director of Mariachi Campanas De América, Jose Irizarry (arranger) and Maestro Ken David Masur during a rehearsal .

Jose Irizarry and Belinda Menchaca, co-director of the Guadalupe Dance Company. They did a great job!!!

José Irizarry & Juan Ortíz

Jose Irizarry & violinist Anthony Medrano, from Campanas De America.

PuertoRico y Cuba. Jose Irizarry and Roberto Pérez López, from Los Tres Reyes trio.

McNay Museum & Hyatt Hill Country Weddings

The golf course was beautiful at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort. But the day did not start out quite that glorious! :-)

It all started on a dripping wet Saturday morning. Sandy was supposed to get married on the beautiful grounds of the McNay Art Museum. But you can't get married in the rain. Well, you can. But that's not the ideal.

Thankfully, Sandy has a very resourceful group of family and friends. They even came up with a canopy to protect us from the rain. The canopy, by the way, was perfectly matched to Sandy's color scheme. LOL!

And the rain let up just in time for them to have their ceremony. Another happy ending to a new beginning.

Canyon Spring Golf Club Waterfall Wedding

Our version of the great escape. ha, ha, ha!

Weddings at the Canyon Springs Golf Club Waterfall are always beautiful. The trick is getting everything down to the ceremony area. This post is for you couples wanting to have your wedding out there.

This is me, with my harp half hanging out of a golf cart. This is always the most nerve wracking part of our Waterfall weddings. We need to take lots of extra padding, and ask the driver to be very careful, which means they have to drive a lot slower than they're used to.

Of course, this is all you would see: beautiful instruments against that gorgeous backdrop. It was a perfect day for a wedding at the Waterfall.

JW Marriott Hill Country Resort Wedding Reception

Groove City Band played for a wedding reception at the JW Marriott.

This is the newest addition to San Antonio's vast collection of amazing places to get married. And this one is a real treat. If I had to pick a word, it would be LUSH. The grass is green, I mean GREEN. According to Melody Schmidt at the JW, we were not the first ones to ask what kind was it, and where we could buy some. :-) But everything else is lush too. The decor, the ambiance, and their service. It's a chocolate experience!

This wedding was put together in style by our friends at San Antonio Wedding and Event Consultants. Every little detail was perfect. Teresa Bryson and Melanie Uresti with SAWEC did a fabulous job. (not sure why this is underline. blogger is weird)

Audrie and Troy shared their first dance, In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel. Later on, their family and friends really got down on the dance floor with music by our own Groove City Band. The band played all kinds of music for them: from Jesse's Girl for the die-hard 80's fans, to Elvis Crespo's "Suavemente". The band even prepared and performed a special request from the bride's father, "Lo Voy A Hacer Por Ti" by Grupo Mazz.

Audrie looked radiant! This party was a blast!

Hill Country Wedding at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort

Allegretto Music provided music entertainment for a fabulous wedding at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort. On Saturday, April 3, David and Valeria had a lovely wedding in the Hill Country. The grounds of the hotel were lush and beautiful. The wedding was attended by their family and close friends. It was a gorgeous spring day... actually, a little too full of spring. Everything was covered with a fine coat of oak pollen! LOL

There is nothing like live music for an outdoor wedding. We received the guests with a prelude with a string trio, followed by the ceremony and an outdoor cocktail, on the deck under those wonderful oak trees!

Next we moved to the Lukenbach Pavilion for the reception. The tables had been decorated by Pizzini Designs, and they looked fantastic!

Then Groove City Band played for the dinner and dance. Valeria and David wanted a great wedding dance band that could cover a wide range of styles for their very diverse group of guests, who had traveled from all over for their wedding. When quiet hours hit at 10:00pm, David and Valeria planned to move the party inside for an all-out club-like experience. So we also provided DJ entertainment for the "after party". It was so much fun to watch them dance their hearts out!!

At the end of the night, everyone was happy.... and exhausted.

THE SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY PLAYS ALLEGRETTO MUSIC

The San Antonio Symphony Orchestra has asked José Irizarry, director of Allegretto Music, to orchestrate four musical pieces to be premiered on April 16 & 17, 2010 during their Fiesta Pops concerts at the Majestic Theatre. “It is really great to finally write for my local orchestra, where I have performed so many times,” said Jose, who has a Master's Degree in violin performance, and often plays with the San Antonio Symphony, “and it has been a great honor to work with Juan Ortiz and his legendary Mariachi Campanas de América.” The Theme of the Fiesta Pops concert is “Pride of San Antonio” and what better opportunity to feature José as part of that local pride! The concert will feature performances by Mariachi Campanas de América, the Guadalupe Theatre Dance Company and acclaimed trio Los Tres Reyes.

José Irizarry has been performing and producing music in San Antonio for 10 years, as owner of Allegretto Music (learn more about his live music services). He has published a highly successful collection of wedding music for strings, which is sold internationally (sheet music publications). And this is not the first time his orchestrations are featured by a symphony orchestra in Texas. Most recently, acclaimed San Antonio tenor Donald Braswell performed his arrangements, accompanied by the Symphony of the Hills in Kerrville.

Interesting to note, Mr. Irizarry is the musical director of Groove City Band (learn more about this San Antonio Band), which last year won the award for Best Band of the Fiesta Cavaliers River Parade. From the river barge to the stage at the Majestic Theater José's music shines through.

For further information, contact Allegretto Music at (210) 497-8831, mail@allegrettomusic.com

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Alamo College - Mardi Gras Trio by Zion Jazz

Great Jazz & Gumbo

Zion Jazz