I was transported.
Susan Vick, Venue, St. Helena

Mesmerizing progam last night! We all loved it!
Pam Chanter, Santa Rosa Symphony

I've never seen these kids so quiet and attentive.
Teacher, Roseland University Prep in Santa Rosa

On our end, your performance went down as on of the best we have offered. Of particular note was how you showed great interest, depth and humor in describing the trail of the gypsies. And then you guys delivered – fabulous music. And the “Finnish” encore cracked us all up. It was kind of neat that we ran out of chairs and had to pack the folks in – I think that added to the evening. The educational aspects of the dialogue really turned our sophisticated audience on. The choice and variety of music maintained a very high level of interest, and the quality of the musicians was outstanding.
Allan Grosch, Sonoma Valley Art Museum

What a stunning concert, phenomenal playing by all. so full of interesting and different music. Glad it was a full house for you.
Warner Jepson, Composer

Absolutely LOVED Orient Express last night. From all appearances you had a very nice attendance. Thanks again for a wonderful evening of music and dance.
Bev Cranston, Santa Rosa Symphony League

All I have to say is "WOW"! Absolutely fantastic. Thank you so much for getting us there. Miriam was wonderful and each dance was different and exciting. We particularly liked the 'snake charmer' sequence with Sheldon.
Donna Campbell, Santa Rosa Symphony League

I want to express our thanks to you for letting us know about this evening's concert. It was fabulous!!! Walter, my husband, and I truly enjoyed every bit of it. We particularly appreciated the education you continue to share with your audiences. It really was a great concert.
Emily & Walter Roeder

The program was spectacular!!! Congrats on a big hit! Judging by the audience reaction, I believe you're going to have quite a following.
Fran and Ray Swanson, audience members

My girlfriends and I enjoyed your concert so much at Ledsen Sunday. It was truly inspiring and superb. I loved the idea of following the Gypsy influence in different musical genres. So informative and engaging.
Rebecca, audience member

I wanted to write and tell you we had a great time at the Orient Express concert last night. You and the band we absolutely fantastic. The music was wonderful. Previously I was more knowledgeable about Roma culture and not so much in their music traditions. So it was a pleasant revelation to hear, since it helps put in context other rich aspects of an intriguing culture. Also loved the educational angle of the show. 'Really helpful the way you structured the performance order, and your and Sheldon's narration was excellent. Also being a reed guy myself I was blown away - no other words for it - by Sheldon's playing. Wow. The piece you called the most challenging on the night - Jove Male Mome, his original composition, was especially memorable. Feel free to pass this on to him - I had chills during the piece it was that good.
Mark Barosko, audience member

Thank you for all of your efforts, and a truly wonderful concert event...a great way to kick off the festival. I appreciated you professionalism and diligence in getting your following to come out and support you and this festival. Alan Kleinschmidt, Green Music Festival organizer

THANK YOU to you and your colleagues for a tremendous opening of the Festival. What a splendid evening it was and it's great to see so many new faces who have not been to SSU previously. It was clear that everyone was having a great time and the talk at intermission and at the end clearly demonstrated their enjoyment. Again, thank you to everyone in Orient Express. It was a great start to the 2008 Festival. Floyd Ross, Green Music Festival director

You guys ROCKED! We got a lot of very positive feedback. People loved the concert! Good on Alan for choosing it to be the opening gig. Kamen Nikolov, Green Music Festival technical director (and Bulgarian)

just had to write and tell you how fabulous that was on sunday !!! many times me and my pal chico looked at each other and said ,it just doesn't get any better than this.
Laurie, musician/audience member

The music, the stories, the presentation, were wonderful!!! Thank you so much.
Suzanne, audience member

Great music and I was happy that you had some history for everyone. I was born in Serbia, I can understand little bit of every dialect from former Yugoslavia, I think? But Serbian and Gypsy Music is in my blood. So if I can help little bit I'll be glad to, you guys are fantastic group.
Branka, audience member

Fantastic ensemble. I liked the audience response ... the appeal of this kind of music cuts across a broad group of people, and that's true---the classical fans (great inclusion of classical pieces, great distribution), the jazz fans, --it was nice to actually learn something at a concert.
Kathleen, musician/audience member

Just wanted to say thank you again for bringing your incredible group up here for an "all you can hear musical smorgasboard". I truly enjoyed the concert and people keep coming up to me telling me what a great concert you put on and asking me when you guys are coming back again .. it was a really tight group and the music really got me so inspired .. it is amazing to hear excruciatingly beautiful plaintive melodies and then suddenly launch into a manic spree of driving odd meter rhythms all in the same song. The whole gamut of emotions hit you all at once.
Mona Lisa, concert promoter