I DO! 2000: At a recent wedding, the mother of the bride asked Ed Goldstein if her brother, the bride’s uncle, could play a few tunes with the band.

Mr. Goldstein is music director of the seven-piece Peabody Ragtime Ensemble, which has played at nearly 2000 weddings in its 26 years. It certainly wasn’t the first time such a request had been made. “We’ve had members of the wedding party sit in with the band, and they’ve always been pretty good,” he recalls.

This occasion was different.

The uncle, a retiree who lives in Florida, turned out to be a klezmer clarinetist. In fact, Mr. Goldstein clarifies, “one of the premier klezmer clarinetists. He was amazing. He blew us away. We had him play with us most of the evening.”

...Mr. Goldstein says the Peabody Ragtime Ensemble plays “as many different musical styles as possible. All-rock music or all-Latin music is fun for a couple of tunes, but it gets old fast.”

Besides the Ensemble, Mr. Goldstein is also music director for the Baltimore Jazz Orchestra, a 17-piece group. The orchestra also is hired for weddings but, because of its size, its venues are limited. “Usually we play in a tent or one of the large ballrooms around town...”