Downstate Strings specializes in playing music for weddings and other celebrations in East Central Illinois and Western Indiana. Our repertoire features traditional Irish music, Latin music, arrangements of popular songs (both old and new), music from the theatre, arrangements of opera arias, and music from the standard classical string quartet repertoire.


[Above photos by Michael Leddy]

Please listen to our audio calling card, and write to us (downstatestrings@hotmail.com) to check our availability, and to see our ever-expanding repertoire list. You can also contact us by telephone. Ask for Terry Coulton at (217) 348-1601 or Elaine Fine at (217) 345-4310.

Rates

We charge $700.00 for a two-hour wedding, which includes mileage around the downstate Illinois and downstate Indiana areas. The time can be divided between the wedding and part of the reception. For events longer than two hours, we charge $300.00 for each additional hour or portion of an hour. For outdoor events we charge an extra $100.00, and require protection from the sun and weather.


[Photo by Mark Romine]

We have had decades of experience playing weddings, and the quality of our work reflects our professionalism. Read reviews from brides, grooms, and their families, and consider how much expertly-played live music chosen by you and your family will add to your wedding experience. We make everything easy for you, and take pride in timing the music we play exactly to the needs of our brides and grooms and their families. Your guests will also appreciate being able to listen to a prelude that will get them fully into the "wedding spirit," and help them to feel welcome and comfortable in your wedding location. We cherish the experience of being able to participate in the most important day of a couple's life, and do our very best to help make it as beautiful and as meaningful as possible through the music we play.

This is a list of some of our most popular traditional wedding music selections. We also have a huge selection of popular music that brides and grooms like to use for the various parts of their weddings, and arrangements that no other Quartet plays, because they are exclusive to Downstate Strings. One custom string quartet arrangement (if desired) of any piece or song of your choice is included in the wedding fee, as well as rehearsal time directly before the wedding, if you would like us to accompany a singer.

Amazing Grace (Traditional)
Adams: Desire
Bach: Largo from the Concerto for Two Violins
Bach: Minuet in G (Anna Magdalena)
Bach: Bist du bei mir
Bach: Air from Suite No. 3 in D
Bach: Arioso from Cantata No. 156
Bach: Chorale Prelude: Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier
Bach: Chorale Prelude: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze from Cantata No. 208
Bach/Gounod: Ave Maria
Bernstein: One Hand, One Heart
Bock: Sunrise, Sunset
Beethoven: Ode to Joy
Clarke: Trumpet Voluntary in D
Enya: Only Time
Franck: Panis Angelicus
Grieg: Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
Handel: Entrance of the Queen of Sheba from Solomon
Handel: Hornpipe from the Water Music
Handel: La Réjouissance from Royal Fireworks Music
Handel: Menuet from The Water Music
Handel: Largo from Xerxes
Handel: Overture from Royal Fireworks Music
Handel: Air and Variations
Malotte: The Lord's Prayer
Massenet: Meditation from Thais
Mendelssohn: Wedding March
Mouret: Rondeau from Symphonies des fanfares
Mozart: Wedding March from The Marriage of Figaro
Mozart: Adagio K361
Pachelbel: Canon in D
Purcell: Trumpet Tune (The King of Denmark)
Rodgers: Wedding Processional from the Sound of Music
Rota: A Time for Us
Schubert: Ave Maria
Stookey: Wedding Song (There is Love)
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Vivaldi: Concerto Grosso in D minor, Op. 3, #11
Tchaikovsky: Music from the Nutcracker
Wagner: Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin

Additional arrangements, beyond the single gratis arrangement, can be made for your wedding, but there will be an additional (and negotiable) charge for this service.