Meet Ray Bicolli of Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ray Bicolli.

Ray, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My story as a musician starts from when I was 6 years old and first got introduced to the cello in my hometown of Tirana, Albania. My dad played in a wedding band and taught me the first steps of music, but most importantly instilled in me the love of music and how it can affect people. Fast forward a few years and my family emigrated to Cleveland Ohio, where I continued my musical education throughout high school and college. Eventually my musical life took me to Philadelphia, PA where in 2010 I started my own business; performing for weddings, corporate, and special events. This is where Elegance String Quartet was born. I was trained as a classical musician my entire life but always had a love for playing all kinds of music on string instruments. I started arranging popular songs and putting my own spin on the arrangements, creating unique mashups and a style that would give ESQ its own voice. What started as a classical string quartet eventually grew into a full service music entertainment company, offering small ensembles, bands, and DJ packages. In 2024 my wife (violinist of the group) and I decided to move back to Cleveland to be closer to our extended family. Elegance Quartet had yet another transformation at this point, serving two metropolitan areas and growing our reach. Being back in the city of Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame just felt like coming home. We are now fully established in the Cleveland area with an office in Lakewood, and we offer an unmatched musical experience with our electric string quartet setup.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Overall I consider myself very lucky. Life always has its ups and downs, but I always try to see the positive side to any situation. As a full time musician running a business there are no guarantees that there will be consistent gigs. It’s a risk that every business takes, but it’s much more palpable in the music industry. We’ve had to reinvent our musical identity over the years, and that took courage. The Covid era pretty much shut down all our events, but we came out stronger on the other side because we started offering music services that no other classical group was offering. We learned to DJ, emcee, use lighting and video, and create a bigger business than what we started with. I have to admit that I didn’t do this alone. I hired people that were smarter than me at these functions, and that has made all the difference in moving the business forward. I am lucky to work with some very talented musicians that also think outside the box, and most importantly have fun playing with each other. If the chemistry in the group is good then even the audience feels it and it creates a better experience.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My professional work revolves around creating an exceptional live music experience for our clients. There are many performing groups that could say they offer similar services, but here are a few features that can be experienced only with Elegance Quartet.

1. Our electric string quartet does not perform with backing tracks. Instead, we use rhythm and effects pedals to create the beats that accompany our fully live music. As of today we don’t know any other group that does that. It’s usually canned backing tracks that do not leave any room for creativity. Our performances are truly live and never the same.

2. The majority of our creative arrangements are proprietary to Elegance Quartet. They are not bought in the general market, nor are they for sale. We create truly unique mashups and renditions that can only be heard from our group.

3. We are proud to feature JukeTune: the digital jukebox that lets your guests make song requests as we play live. This was my brain child and became a reality with the help of a family member that specialized in software development. The app is a huge hit with corporate clients, works flawlessly, and requires no signups on the client side. It a feature that only Elegance Quartet can offer and we are very proud of it. It also means that we have to keep under our fingers around 1500 songs because you never know what will be requested!

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
We love technology, but only to enhance our human nature. Since the evolution of iPads we now use an app called forScore to organize our sheet music. It’s a lot lighter to carry around! It has many cool features too, with my favorite being the ability to change the music on all four of our iPads with one single click. It makes for very smooth song transitions.

Another app that we use often is through Singular Sound, a company that creates beat machines and lets you customize your own beats. It allows us to fine tune each aspect of our performance and be spontaneous with our mashups.

And finally, of course, our very own JukeTune, which is the app that allows guests at an event make song requests while we play.

All of these apps are very technical, of course, but they make our work life easier while at the same time creating a connection to our clients. Outside of work we all have our personal outlets where we recharge and get inspiration from. Since a lot of our time is spent driving to and from gigs we get to listen to a lot of new music in the car. I’ve always been a fan of classic rock and it’s my go to for rocking out and building energy.

Pricing:

• Ceremony only usually ranges from $900-$1500
• Ceremony + Cocktails packages range between $1500-$2800
• Full day pricing is hard to gauge because there are many variables, but most clients spend around $5500

Contact Info:

• Website: https://elegancequartet.com/cleveland-wedding-music
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elegancequartet/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EleganceQuartet/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-bicolli-807b9765/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@elegancequartet
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/elegancequartet
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@elegancequartet