The Founders   |   Artist Biographies

Topu Lyo and Randy Bergida began their collaboration in 1999, performing for the weddings of friends and family. What started as a series of personal requests evolved into the foundation of New York Ceremony Music—a partnership defined by their signature Custom Arranged Songs with a unique ability to reimagine any genre for cello and nylon string guitar. This signature style has now evolved into the Soundtrack Wedding Ceremony—a tailored offering of original compositions written for each couple’s story.

Having performed together for over 25 years, Topu and Randy have developed a diverse, ever-growing repertoire ranging from The Beatles to Fleet Foxes, Elliott Smith to The National, and Depeche Mode to Django Reinhardt. Their signature sound is built on decades of interplay and a shared musical language developed while studying at the University of Arizona School of Music.

Their formal training includes master classes with the Guarneri String Quartet and Tokyo String Quartets, John Stowell, and Yo-Yo Ma, alongside private study with prestigious mentors such as Thomas Patterson, Alieksey Vianna, Nancy Greene, and Gordon Epperson. This foundation of classical discipline and contemporary versatility has taken their music across the United States, Mexico, Europe, and Asia.