Fifth Avenue Orchestras & Entertainment

Mary and George at fifth avenue were awesome! Mary was so sweet and easy to work with prior to the wedding. Multiple wedding guests came up to me and said it was the best band they had ever heard at a wedding. Music connection played at my sister's wedding 11 years ago, and I knew I wanted them to play at my wedding too. They were so great! They had an amazing energy from the beginning that lasted all night. They were definitely the best part of the wedding party!

If you want an absolutely amazing, fantastic band for your wedding, The Music Connection Orchestra is the band for you. They are so versatile. They can play any music or song you desire. If it is not on their list, they will learn it. We are from Ohio and they learned "Hang on Sloopy" for our daughter's California wedding. All us buckeye fans went crazy. Everybody raved about how this was the BEST WEDDING BAND they had ever had the pleasure of listening to. The band pleased all of our guests ranging in age from 18 to 85. We couldn't have had a better time. Thank-you for the beautiful memories that will last us our lifetime. The music is still playing in our heads. Make sure you splurge for the whole orchestra including the horns when booking this band. It is well worth it.
We can't thank-you enough.
Sincerely,
Jeff & Sandy

If you want an absolutely amazing, fantastic band for your wedding, The Music Connection Orchestra is the band for you. They are so versatile. They can play any music or song you desire. If it is not on their list, they will learn it. We are from Ohio and they learned "Hang on Sloopy" for our daughter's California wedding. All us buckeye fans went crazy. Everybody raved about how this was the BEST WEDDING BAND they had ever had the pleasure of listening to. The band pleased all of our guests ranging in age from 18 to 85. We couldn't have had a better time. Thank-you for the beautiful memories that will last us our lifetime. The music is still playing in our heads. Make sure you splurge for the whole orchestra including the horns when booking this band. It is well worth it.
We can't thank-you enough.
Sincerely,
Jeff & Sandy

This band was a major, major disappointment. They got the bride's name wrong when made our entrance into our reception [VERY easy name], screwed up the music for our first dance [even though they had two CD's in case one didn't work, they somehow misfired it, and it started half way through - major disappointment - as we had rehearsed with professionals for months before the wedding], the microphones kept screeching during the toasts and speeches, and worst, the musicians seemed bored even though the crowd was lively. I would never use them again for any event.

Fifth Avenue Orchestras & Entertainment is the best Thanks to them our wedding was a huge success. From the moment they started playing to the very end, the dance floor was full from the youngest to the oldest. They always knew what to play and how to "work" the event. They are true professionals, very accommodating, talented and entertaining. It doesn't get any better! all my guest are still raving about how much fun they had, even that I did not give them a music list, I trusted them and they delivered.... I will recommended to anyone who wants to have a time of their life!!!!!!!!

They played beautiful, soft music during dinner and checked in a few times on volume. They checked in many times before the wedding to get all the details right for which songs to be played when and which off of their songlist to never play-- they made no errors!! Every song was beautiful. They are so talented, outgoing and friendly. They really went out of their way to make sure our guests were continually having fun! We appreciate all they did for us on our wedding day.

We had some extra money left over from our budget, and so we decided to get some live music!They were very professional and sounded great. We were very please overall with them. nice to work !

We had some extra money left over from our budget, and so we decided to get some live music!They were very professional and sounded great. We were very please overall with them. nice to work !

They truely brought great atmosphere to my wedding. I first encountered them at my friends' wedding. They are hired on the spot. At my wedding, I got a lot rave from my guests saying that they did a great job. During the planning process, Mary is extremely helpful, detail orientated and prompt respose. Excellent band!!

I was in contact with both George and Mary at Fifth Avenue, and both of them were cordial and pleasant to speak to. They answered all of my questions, and on top of that were very manageable and accommodating, which is not something I can say for other quartets I spoke with. We provided Fifth Avenue with a highly specific setlist for both our ceremony and cocktail reception, and they were happy to work with it; in cases where they did not know/have arrangements for a certain song, they were willing to arrange it themselves for a small fee.

The contracts were simple, payment was easy. As pleasant an experience as you could ask for leading into a wedding.

During the event itself, the quartet was professional and talented. They played everything we asked for, looked impeccable, and generally added quite a bit to the wedding. A wonderful experience.

Fifth Avenue Orchestras did an amazing job at our wedding and I would heartily disagree with the review below. In fact, not a single thing the 12/08/08 reviewer wrote was an accurate description of our experience with Fifth Avenue.

I was in contact with both George and Mary at Fifth Avenue, and both of them were cordial and pleasant to speak to. They answered all of my questions, and on top of that were very manageable and accommodating, which is not something I can say for other quartets I spoke with. We provided Fifth Avenue with a highly specific setlist for both our ceremony and cocktail reception, and they were happy to work with it; in cases where they did not know/have arrangements for a certain song, they were willing to arrange it themselves for a small fee.

The contracts were simple, payment was easy. As pleasant an experience as you could ask for leading into a wedding.

During the event itself, the quartet was professional and talented. They played everything we asked for, looked impeccable, and generally added quite a bit to the wedding. A wonderful experience.

I wanted to get some classic music to be played at the wedding before we hit the cake. Also they are very professional at what they do and good all around.

The music was superb. Sounded like something off of an old record. Played very nicely.

If you are OK with your band possibly not knowing the songs, or even the style of music you want at your wedding, then you may be OK with Fifth Avenue Orchestras under its new ownership. Otherwise, do not use this service.

I notice that there are a lot of great reviews below and with the exception of the last, I do not doubt them. However, what is not said here is that this past spring the Fifth Avenue Orchestras changed ownership and management and with that the quality of service dropped dramatically. (The review on the knot.com is also based on the old ownership btw.) Fifth Avenue as it once existed was the work of the owner, Jack Bielan. He managed the service himself and apparently put care into the events as evidenced by the reviews, however that is NOT the case now.

The new owner is not interested in running a wedding band service himself and yet, has not hired someone to provide the management and oversight provided by the old owner leaving a huge void in the quality they provide. The coordination and care that one would expect from a wedding band service (and was promised to me in hiring FAO) is left to chance. The in depth planning session that Jack had promised was cut to a 3 page basic information survey that we were unable to get the owner on the phone to discuss. At my wedding, the band had no information at all on the type of music they were to play and were not given the song list where we had checked off the songs we liked at the request of the owner (you are not allowed to contact the band prior to the event, but the office guarantees that they will be well prepared based on the information you give the office). This fact only became obvious to me when they started playing current pop songs at my soul/funk/motown wedding.

The new owner’s answer to this is that you choose the band based on the website videos and that's all the assurance customer's have. That was not what I was repeatedly told by the old owner when I choose the service, or the new owner when I talked to him pre-wedding. (The samples of music on the website are so varied that the owner's assertion doesn't even make any sense). I have had a few conversations with the owner following the wedding and they have apologized for the "accident" and admits that was a terrible oversight, he has done nothing to right this wrong. If the new owner’s assertions are true, then I would like future customers to know that they can only expect to have some type of the music played on the website (not their choice of music) at their event. I would not want this type of "accident" to happen to anyone else on their wedding day but I fear with the new owner’s poor customer service and lack of empathy to the importance of an event, it will.

I would like to mention that the band itself was very good (which is why I bumped this review from the 1 star I would have given to the management to 2 stars). However, the fact that the band was very talented just makes me more upset, because I know, had the event not been so mismanaged, the music could have been what I had envisioned for my wedding.

If you are OK with your band possibly not knowing the songs, or even the style of music you want at your wedding, then you may be OK with Fifth Avenue Orchestras under its new ownership. Otherwise, do not use this service.

This past spring the Fifth Avenue Orchestras changed ownership and management and with that the quality of service dropped dramatically. Fifth Avenue as it once existed was the work of the owner, Jack who apparently put care into the events as evidenced by the some reviews, however that is NOT the case now.

The new owner is not interested in running a wedding band service himself and yet, has not hired someone to provide the management and oversight provided by the old owner leaving a huge void in the quality they provide. The coordination and care that one would expect from a wedding band service (and was promised to me in hiring FAO) is left to chance. The in depth planning session that Jack had promised was cut to a 3 page basic information survey that we were unable to get the owner on the phone to discuss. At my wedding, the band had no information at all on the type of music they were to play and were not given the song list where we had checked off the songs we liked at the request of the owner (you are not allowed to contact the band prior to the event, but the office guarantees that they will be well prepared based on the information you give the office). This fact only became obvious to me when they started playing current pop songs at my soul/funk/motown wedding.

The new owner’s answer to this is that you choose the band based on the website videos and that's all the assurance customer's have. That was not what I was repeatedly told by the old owner when I choose the service, or the new owner when I talked to him pre-wedding. (The samples of music on the website are so varied that the owner's assertion doesn't even make any sense). I have had a few conversations with the owner following the wedding and they have apologized for the "accident" and admits that was a terrible oversight, he has done nothing to right this wrong. If the new owner’s assertions are true, then I would like future customers to know that they can only expect to have some type of the music played on the website (not their choice of music) at their event. I would not want this type of "accident" to happen to anyone else on their wedding day but I fear with the new owner’s poor customer service and lack of empathy to the importance of an event, it will.

I would like to mention that the band itself was very good (which is why I bumped this review from the 1 star I would have given to the management to 2 stars). However, the fact that the band was very talented just makes me more upset, because I know, had the event not been so mismanaged, the music could have been what I had envisioned for my wedding.

They were the hit ofthe party!!! They were professional and fun!!! They played at my husand's sisters Wedding a few months prior and we knew we would use them!!! They played everything from Bob Marley to Beethoven!!!

We booked the band 'Marquis' and couldn't have been happier with them! They were excellent! Not only were they great MCing the night, but they were so talented and virtually every guest commented on how great they were.

The guests really enjoyed them, although a few requests were turned down due to them not knowing the song. On the other hand they played a broad range of music and it would be unrealistic to expect them to know it all. Great band, Great show, definitely a large part of what made the wedding so magical.

We had the 8 piece studio band and they were phenomenal! We asked them to play jazz during dinner, and then dance music when dinner was over. As soon as our guests finished their dinner, the dance floor was PACKED. I kept looking out at the tables to see that no one was there. The band did such a great job of playing music that appealed to everyone, from our grandparents to our parents, to our young cousins. The female singer was all over the dance floor, letting people sing into the mic with her and dancing with our guests - it was so much fun!

Beyond that, when we asked 5th Avenue to provide the music for our ceremony, Jack was completely honest and told us that we would be better off using CDs given our music choices (Alison Krauss, U2, and the Allman Brothers) because no one could do those songs justice without having to pay a full band. We really appreciated his honesty, as his recommendation saved us quite a bit of money (that would have otherwise gone to his company).

If you're willing to splurge on a live band, I highly recommend that you contact Fifth Avenue.

We were referred to them from by the Ritz Carlton and they were FANTASTIC. We had the 10 piece Studio and worth the fee! We couldn't imagine having a DJ since we both love live music.

Thanks for the heads up! Basedon this post and another glowing one on the Los Angeles theknot.com board, I went to the 5th Street offices.

Their website does NOT do them justice! Of course, I haven't actually used them yet, but so far I've interviewd three or four bands and they have definitely impressed me the most. I realize that might be a function of their having better recording equipment, or better editing, but I really think it's more than that.

Jack Bielan, the man in charge, gave me a lot of information in terms of:
-more technical, musical stuff. Basically, this guy knows his music inside and out, and I mean all the nitty gritty theory and instrumentalization, etc.
-he's very willing to share a lot of ideas about music and event planning, even though it was a first meeting and some other managers play things more close to the chest like they're afraid you'll steal some ideas and not come back. Jack's approach puts me more at ease because it shows he knows what he's doing and is confident.
-the horn section on his bands are incredible. When the sax solos came on my sister and I just turned to each other and nodded. It was clear the man knew his way around a sax.
-the singers vary, but I think there's something for everyone. Some people might want a softer, more delicate voice. Others might want someone gruffer with more body. I didn't love them all, but there's someone for everyone.
-the bands come in different sizes from 6-12, so whatever size you want they can do.
-very professional looking group, and they can do anything from suits or tuxes to white jackets.

This is the only band I've looked at that I feel the need to compliment on the Internet. I really want to stress that a lot of band websites are kind of bad compared to going to the studio and listening to CDs and watching DVDs, so give them a chance.

We had a 7-piece band for our reception, and they were fantastic! I can't count the number of guests who commented on what a great band we had. Everything was really well planned out ahead of time, which made for a smooth party. The band leader was great, and they had all of our guests (both young-ish and old) up and dancing the whole night. Highly recommend.

We had the 10 piece Studio Band and were blown away by how great they were. We had specific rules on no silly interactive dances and didn't hear one all night. They kept the crowd dancing until the end, even the older folks loved them. Our band leader/mc Billy was awesome, he was very professional and not cheesy at all. We were so happy with our choice.

This band made our wedding a great party. They played everything from oldies to Beyonce. They were more expensive than a dj, but they were definitely worth it. Our friends still tell us that ours is the best wedding they have been to...and it is because of our band!

When it comes to choosing the right band or orchestra, you cannot go wrong at Fifth Avneue Orchestras. George and Mary have many orchestras and bands to choose from. The web site has an easy navigation tool to help you listen to each and every band. Thanks and happy holidays to Fifth Avenue Orchestras!

Fifth Avenue Orchestras is one of the best in Los Angeles, I know this because we have been working with them for over 20 years and have seen how well they make an event happen. We recently used them for my daughter's wedding and they rocked ! We had so many compliments.