Review Centre: Medieval / Historic Ensembles

"I'm not sure if there are many events that receive such detailed planning attention as do weddings. When my son and future daughter in law asked me if I could find a classical guitarist for their mid-summer outdoor wedding, I was thrilled to be assigned a specific role and to help. Stephan Kane came to us with strong recommendation. He exceeded our expectations from the first moment. At the bride's special request, Stephan was asked to play "La Valse d'Amelie" for the processional. I had heard the piece previously arranged for piano and for orchestra but never for guitar. Stephan created an arrangement for guitar especially for the event. Given that the event was outdoors and the procession stretched a goodly distance, timing the processional was part of the challenge. Stephan did that beautifully. Additionally, he provided lovely selections of his choosing as the guests assembled, appropriate amplification equipment, and executed both set up and break down of his equipment expeditiously and discretely. Stephan was politely responsive to my emails, communicated well and completely, and did for us everything that was expected and more. To me and to many, live music enhances any event. Working with a wonderful musician like Stephan, who is, as well as talented, gracious and humble, makes adding the magic of live music to the ambiance an easy decision. Val J."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"If music be the food of love, then heritage musician Peter Bull has enough on his menu for a medieval banquet... Peter’s popular recitals and talks really brought the hall to life... visitors were able to enjoy a truly authentic 17th century experience. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Stephan played at my wedding, and did such an amazing job! It rained almost the entire time at the outdoor wedding, but he was very flexible with all of the changing plans, and did a great job to make things special. Stephan's arrangements are very well written and performed, and he put in a lot of effort to make sure that he played the songs we asked him, and went above and beyond to work with one of our friends that sang for our first dance. He was very professional and very easy to work with while planning the wedding as well. He has a great repertoire and a large selections of songs to choose from. We had him play mostly hawaiian and contemporary music, and it all sounded great! Toward the end of the night, some of our more musically inclined friends even got up to sing while he played his guitar! It was very special, I highly recommend him!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Stephan did a wonderful job as the guitarist at our wedding. He is an exceptional guitar player, and we enjoyed hearing the music during our ceremony - it was so lovely! He was incredibly kind and easy to work with during our general planning and covid reschedule. He has a super long list of songs he can play (both modern and classical, which is nice), and did a truly beautiful job! We are so grateful for the special touch he added to our ceremony and big day! Couldn't recommend more highly!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Then there was the unforgettable Peter Bull. This amazingly versatile minstrel drew another capacity crowd for his marvellously entertaining offering called From Bad King John to Good Queen Bess. Hurdy-gurdy, recorder, dulcimer, cittern, flute, lute and voice were put to work for a fast moving 90 minutes of splendid medieval and Elizabethan songs and dances."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"This individual is definitely talented. Very easy to listen to. Good stuff!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Stephan is an amazing musician and his music and calm presence were the perfect accompaniment to the beautiful nature that surrounded us on our wedding day. We wished we could've ignored the wedding schedule to just sit and enjoy his wonderful music more on the day! With his reasonable ceremony/cocktail hour package, having the chance to experience his music beforehand on his website, and his professional demeanor through email and phone calls the decision to hire Stephan was an easy one. Stephan, do let us know when you come out with a CD as we will be the first to snatch up a copy! Katie & Koki, Molii Gardens, April 29, 2016"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"So talented and a true professional. I come from an entertainment background and ran a production company. Stephen is by far the best I’ve ever worked with. Wonderful playlist and can build any music you need we requested classical, soundtrack and pop . Great versions of everything we asked for. Great timing and attention to detail. Great presence and demeanor. Very friendly and kind ? "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Amazing Stephan is so awesome. He was helpful in establishing the set list for our wedding-- I am not the kind of bride who had this all planned out in advance (no wedding book, no bride dream list, nothing), so his prompting enabled me to put it all together. We were of course stressed to the max and running late on the big Wedding Day, but he was able to collaborate with the groom to get everything set up and ready for the ceremony. Not only is he friendly, approachable, and professional, Stephan is such a talented musician and his acoustic guitar playing really made our moment on the beach what it should be: magical! We even invited him to our rehearsal dinner!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Talented and A Breeze To Work With Stephan is clearly talented, it goes without saying, but he is also willing and able to learn new music outside of his repertoire, for a very reasonable price. The music in our ceremony was intentionally chosen, and he respected and honored our vision with such grace and class. We are so grateful to have found him and couldn't recommend him enough."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"If you are looking for a guitarist to play at your wedding, HIRE STEPHAN. He is simply the best in the business and made our wedding ceremony and cocktail hour sound beautiful and magical! We decided to do entirely Beatles songs for our ceremony and cocktail hour. Stephan even offered to learn two new Beatles songs outside of his repertoire specifically for our wedding for a small fee. He really went above and beyond to make sure the music was exactly what we wanted! During the ceremony, I will never forget walking down the aisle to "In My Life" and hearing the beautiful strumming of his guitar. Several guests came up to us saying how wonderful Stephan's music was. Not only is his music absolutely stunning, but Stephan was professional, on-time, friendly, and so easy to work with! He was very responsive on all communications and hiring him was one of the smoothest decisions I made in the wedding planning process. Thank you Stephan for your musical talents and making our wedding day so special!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"I cannot say enough good things about Stephan. He was super responsive, professional and performed above our expectations. We had a small wedding and Stephan's music was a perfect highlight throughout the evening. I do not exaggerate when every single guest approached myself or Stephan directly with high compliments. I recommend Stephen fully for any event!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Stephan was a great vendor to work with. He was easy to communicate with and prompted to answer any questions I had. I was planning my wedding from California and had a hard time finding the right person to sing or play for the ceremony and cocktail hour. Stephan is a gifted guitarist and glad I came across his profile online. 2 thumbs up and recommend him for your event."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"His music added a special quality to the wedding. Stephan is personable, approachable, professional and a talented musician. Our events schedule changed several times and Stephan remained flexible and accommodating. He learned 2 new songs for us and performed them beautifully for the wedding ceremony and at the reception. As well, his services are very reasonably priced. Thank you, Stephan, it was a pleasure to meet you and your music made our special occasion even more special!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Just Perfect! Without a beat, I would recommend Stephan to other couples looking to create a beautiful and authentic environment for their wedding day. We had him play for both our ceremony and cocktail hour, and he was such a pleasure to work with all throughout the process - accommodating our venue's (stringent) requirements, lightning fast responsiveness, thoughtfulness, etc. He was helpful with recommendations and answering any questions we may asked - even when it was looking for an additional opinion. You will not regret hiring Stephan to make your wedding day musically-perfect! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review: