Brass String Chamber Ensemble

Category: Live Band or Ensemble

Type: Solo instrumentalist

Type: Mixed chamber ensemble

Genres: Bollywood or Bhangra

  • Classical
  • Jazz
  • Pop/Top 40s
  • Rock
+4 genres


About Brass String Chamber Ensemble

Paul and Kris Semanic

Founders/Directors: Trumpet/Violin

Paul and Kris met in 1989 while playing in an orchestra in Wheaton, IL. They started the Brass String Chamber Ensemble in 1990 which quickly became very popular throughout Chicago and the suburbs. They have played over 2000 weddings and special events and have thousands of titles in their combined music library. The BSCE enjoys playing for ceremonies but also cocktail hour and during dinner. They are familiar with all traditional church ceremonies and also happy to play in banquet halls, country clubs, hotels, or even at a lovely home celebration. They are based in Naperville but travel throughout Chicago and the suburbs.

The BSCE is unique due to the wonderful combination of strings and brass - especially their signature ensemble of a string quartet with trumpet(s) which is perfect for all types of celebrations. They offer exciting arrangements covering many genres: classical, sacred, jazz, pop, rock, movie music, Bollywood, and many others. Paul manages most of the day-to-day logistics including musician communication, and Kris manages the library and writes arrangements - and they both love speaking to their clients so they can learn about their wedding day vision and make suggestions for music and musicians. Their motto is: Let Our Music Tell Your Story!


Services

Services

  • Ceremony microphones and sound
  • Learning new songs
  • Multiple location support
  • Sound system capability audience <300 -
  • Sound system capability audience >300

Musical genres

  • Bollywood or Bhangra
  • Classical
  • Jazz
  • Pop/Top 40s
  • Rock

Event types

  • Cocktail hour
  • Couples luncheon
  • Elopement
  • Engagement party
  • Farewell brunch
  • Rehearsal dinner
  • Wedding ceremony
  • Wedding reception
  • Wedding shower

Reviews

Write a review

5.0 (2 reviews)

  • Wonderful and beautiful music

    Verified review
    Jennifer Wolf8 months ago

    Paul and Chris are fantastic. Easy to work with, professional and the music is incredible. The talent and knowledge that they have is insurmountable. They played for both are wedding and cocktail hour. They were one of the highlights of our wedding and the vendors I was most eager to work with

  • One of the best decisions we made for our wedding!

    Verified review
    David and Kristina Szura3 years ago

    The Brass String Chamber Ensemble (BSCE) are an absolute pleasure to work with and we 100% recommend that you hire them to perform at your wedding! The BSCE played our wedding in October 2019 at St. Mary Catholic Church in Mokena, IL. Our decision to hire them was one of the easiest and best decisions we made during the entire wedding planning process! We discovered the BSCE during a wedding showcase and were extremely impressed with their offerings across the board. The setup we saw during the showcase was a very professional one and the music that we heard matched it perfectly. We knew right away that these musicians were true professionals and that they take their craft very seriously. In addition to the classical music you'd expect to hear at a wedding, we also heard them play a lot of pop music during the showcase as well. We thought this was really cool because it shows that they are willing and able to play some more modern hits. Another big factor that influenced our decision to hire the BSCE was how comfortable we felt talking to them about our ideas and what our vision was. Shoutout to Paul and Kris for being so down-to-earth, friendly, and accommodating during the entire process! Once we gave them the contact information for our music director at the church they were able to work directly with her on all of the details. This was great for us because it was one less thing we would have to worry about coordinating ourselves. Fast forward to October 12, 2019, the day of our wedding - the music was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! The church sounded so full of sound which truly helped to create one of the most memorable and love filled experiences of our lives so far. All of the musicians played in perfect harmony throughout the entire wedding. One especially memorable part of the music during our wedding was the use of the trumpet. To be honest we were kind of on the fence about whether or not we wanted to include the trumpet in the ensemble. However, after going to the BSCE website and listening to their audio excerpts (http://www.thebsce.com/audio.html) we decided that we did want to include the trumpet and we were SO glad that we did! While the organ and strings create an amazing sound all on their own, adding a brass instrument like the trumpet definitely takes it to the next level and makes the music at your wedding especially memorable. My wife and I just celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary on October 12, 2020 and as is tradition we ate our saved slice of wedding cake and re-watched our wedding video. Let me tell you that hearing the music again during the ceremony instantly brought us both back to that very moment at the altar - we both had chills!


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