Meet The Receptionists
The Receptionists provide innovative chamber music for weddings and special events. From classical to pop arrangements, the ensemble is available for ceremonies, cocktail hours, background music or featured recitals for parties, and corporate & charity events. We can offer recommendations for Live Bands to hire for your wedding reception, but at this time our repertoire suits the more intimate moments of your big day.
STYLIZED STRINGS
Our musicians can perform a variety of styles and genres to carry the energy of your event.
Choose your Ensemble
We have a fantastic roster of talented artists who are available as soloists, duos, trios, & quartets with the following instrumentation:
Violin - Viola - Cello - Piano - Guitar
Ensemble Representatives
Jessica Catron
Jessica Catron spent the early part of her professional life in Los Angeles working as a freelance performer and educator. Her musical adventures include touring, performing, and/or recording with artists including Nels Cline, Devotchka, FUN, Trevor Hall, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Dave Matthews, Alexi Murdoch, Linda Ronstadt, Spiritualized, Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney), Steve Vai, the Vitamin String Quartet, VOCO, Scott Weiland, The White Buffalo, and Wilco. She has also worked as a collaborator, performer, and/or music director with exceptional visual artists, composers, and performance artists such as Harold Budd, Vinny Golia, Mike Kelley, Pauline Oliveros, Stephen Prina, Susan Silton, and James Tenney. Jessica has appeared on The Tonight Show, The Late Late Show, the NBC Music Video Awards, Coachella Music Festival, KPFK's Global Village, and has been a soloist for feature films Mean Creek, The Strangers, The Covenant, and Levity.
In and around Missoula, Jessica can be seen as a cellist in the Missoula Symphony Orchestra, String Orchestra of the Rockies, and Glacier Symphony. She founded and directs Grow Music Missoula, and also she works regularly with the Big Sky HS Orchestra and has subbed as a music teacher for Sussex School and MCPS. Jessica co-founded The Receptionists string ensemble with Amelia Thornton Sears, arranges music for her student ensembles - Cello Brigade, Cello Mafia, String Mafia and Viol Conspiracy, and writes music and sings with avant-folk band Missincinatti.
Outside of music, Jessica is raising two amazing children with her sweetie, Jeremy. They love family game nights, traveling whenever possible, snuggling, asking Google random factoids, making tacos, caring for two cats, sauntering in the woods, tent camping, floating rivers, hiking, primitive skills building, reading bedtime stories, spending time with their extended family, and giving group hugs.
Amelia is a violin instructor, freelance performer, and recording artist based out of Missoula, MT, who specializes in alternative violin styles such as bluegrass, blues, rock, jazz, country, folk, and Norwegian hardingfele music. She is an active member of the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America, National Association for Music Education, and the American Federation of Musicians Western Montana Musicians Local 498-642. An accomplished classical performer as well, Amelia completed her Masters of Music in Violin Performance at Ohio University, studying under Dr. Solomiya Ivakhiv and Dr. Stephen Miahky. She earned her Bachelor of Music with Elective Studies in Business from the University of Puget Sound where she studied violin with Dr. Maria Sampen and Timothy Christie. She currently performs in the String Orchestra of the Rockies Viola Section. She is currently working on her dissertation for a Master of Arts degree in Music Psychology in Education, Performance and Wellbeing at the University of Sheffield, UK.
As active offstage as she is onstage, Amelia is the owner/director of Artwork Music Studio, providing music lessons and performance opportunities alongside her husband and pianist, Adam Sears. She specializes in education, music psychology, events management, marketing, and website design. She has served as the Production Manager for the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival, Workshop Manager for Crown of the Continent Guitar Workshop and Festival, and Camp Counselor for Center Stage Strings Music Camp.
Amelia Thornton Sears
Amelia is Co-Director of the wedding ensemble, The Receptionists Music LLC, a member of the John Floridis Quartet, and a founding member of Dean & Riley, a folk duo that performed from 2014 through 2015 and released a record called "Clouds Roll By" (find on iTunes and Spotify).
She was an original member of the Tacoma-based “newgrass” band, Barleywine Revue and is featured as a songwriter on their first self-titled album. Amelia's violin and vocals can be heard on recordings by singer/songwriters, jazz artists and rock bands: Louise Weseth, Stevie V, King Youngblood, The Captain Wilson Conspiracy, Azul Yael, and The Rivera. Always looking for alternative string styles, in the Spring of 2014 Amelia performed the world premiere of composer Matthew Burtner's electro-acoustic "Deep Earth", commissioned by the NoBrow Collective based in Athens, OH.
Amelia has performed in masterclasses and private classes with Orli Shaham, The Lenore Trio, composer Erik Griswold, Kenneth Goldsmith, and has shared the stage with Dweezil Zappa, Tim Miller, Kirk Covington, Adam Nitti, and Kurt Morgan at the Crown of the Continent Guitar Festival Workshop.