I studied flute as a boy and took it up a couple times again as an adult. Encouraged by a concert…read moreflutist friend this year, I took up the instrument again. Buying a better instrument helped a lot, but I soon hit a wall with my amateur technique, and I discovered that Sujatha was teaching nearby in Berkeley. What an extraordinary stroke of luck that was, as Sujatha is by far the best music teacher I've ever had. My flute playing is now growing in leaps and bounds. I am now learning quickly (and unlearning bad habits), and am inspired to practice a half-hour to hour every day. Sujatha's lessons are joyful, enthusiastic, fast-paced, and targeted to just what I need. Despite my amateur abilities, she treats my musical aspirations with deep respect, and challenges me right to the edge of what I'm capable of each week, so that my playing abilities swiftly grow. I'm now able to sight read music--at least on a basic level--and am learning things I never learned from any music teacher before about the phrasing and expression of music (not just the basics of getting the notes and tempo correct). Sujatha herself is an extraordinarily skilled musician, conservatory-trained, who performs regularly in the Bay Area. She studies with her own master teacher, and passes on those insights to her students. I recommend Sujatha highly for anyone who wants to discover the joy of music, and to grow their musical abilities with a joyful, exuberant soul.

I found Sujatha after trying quite a bit to find someone that would teach adult lessons. She was…read morevery kind and warm from the very first conversation to all the lessons I have had over many months now. Most importantly she is very patient and encouraging through the struggles of learning something entirely new at a point in life when learning a new skill is not the easiest thing. In addition to learning from Sujatha I have also been at her performance and she is very skilled and a beautiful flute player herself. After some of my initial hesitations and self doubt of whether I'd be able to learn, whether I would enjoy it or whether I would have the energy to sustain my learning I discovered at the end of three months that I was really enjoying learning and decided to invest in buying a flute and returning my rental flute. She also very graciously helped take me to to a store and shop for my flute at a local store where she is very well known. For anyone looking to learn I can say for sure you are going to enjoy learning from Sujatha if you have the motivation to learn :)

Honestly, I can't believe places like this still exist. In this economy...?…read more Knowledgeable, prompt and affordable. A beautifully kept shop space. I brought my silver flute in for a tune up and walked out with it playing better for less money than I imagined. All my blessings to the folks that make this shop what it is.

Brought in my bari sax to be repaired - several tone holes were damaged when my student knocked my…read morehorn over. Shawn and I inspected the horn together and he assured me he could fix it but he sounded a little reticent. I called the next day to make sure he was up to the job - he said he was. We talked about a tool which would make the job easier but the repair was not contingent on that. A week goes by and Shawn calls me to say he can't repair my horn. Apparently he felt he needed this tool after all. Ok, I'm not dinging him for not being able to fix it. I am dinging him for not recognizing his limitations and being honest about what he can and can't do. And it would have saved me an additional trip, gas, bridge fare and my time.

I recently acquired a violin that had slightly unusual string spacing. I took violin lessons as a…read morechild and am trying to re-introduce myself to the instrument. I brought my instrument to Peter for evaluation and he suggested re-spacing the strings and filing the bridge a bit. He completed this work and installed the new strings I had bought for the instrument by the following day. In addition to setting up my violin, he gave me a couple tips on how to evaluate the quality of a bow. Prior to leaving with my instrument, Peter told me about the San Francisco Scottish Fiddler's group when I told him about my interest in fiddling.

I've been meaning to write this review for about 6 months now, after the apartment complex I lived…read morein burned down and my violin had some related water (thankfully not fire) damage. I've always felt kind of uncomfortable in music stores specializing violins - I'm a mostly self taught folk musician whose instrument isn't worth tens of thousands (ok, barely a thousand at all), and I've gotten some serious attitude/snobbery from those places. However, going to Peter was the best experience I could have hoped for. He was super nice, wonderful at explaining what he was doing, and I instantly knew my instrument was in great hands. It's clear that he loves what he does, and he's really damn good at it. I couldn't recommend him more highly!

Our son has been a member the last few years. It's small, friendly, offers a great repertoire…read more Many former singers come back to help out and mentor the younger singers.

My daughter loves being a member of this choir--she has been singing with Kairos for two years…read more The choir not only focuses on the development of vocal skills, but also music theory, performance, and community building. The Kairos community is welcoming, warm, and nurturing. There is a yearly retreat, and local and international travel opportunities, however, children are allowed to participate at their own pace. The music the kids learn is diverse: classical, folk, world music, jazz, etc. Laura Kakis Serper (founder) is fabulous with children and her experience with music education is vast. She was the artistic director of the San Francisco Girls' Chorus and the San Francisco Boys' Chorus for three years and currently directs the Choral Music Program at The Crowden School. Her husband, Arkadi Serper, also teaches at Crowden and serves as the director of Piano and Composition Music Theory as well as teaching at the SF Conservatory. The breadth and scope of their combined knowledge is impressive. I am thrilled that my child is learning from two people who live and breathe music passionately. On a personal note, this choir has been a huge self-esteem booster for a child who is clearly creative and does not fit into the "competitive sports" category. It's been wonderful to watch her grow artistically and socially. Kairos rehearses at 1953 Hopkins St. (Epworth United Methodist Church) in Berkeley. Boys and girls ages 6-14 are welcome.

Michael did an amazing job mastering my LP. The result is a cohesive sound that translates well…read moreacross different devices and sounds just as good on my studio monitors as it does on my laptop speakers - and he did this despite the differences in instrumentation and recording quality on each track. I highly recommend Coast Mastering!

Fantastic mastering engineer, very professional and very accommodating to artist deadlines…read more Wonderful communication with Michael and his assistant. The turnaround of initial masters and final files is quite prompt. Will certainly be coming back to get future projects mastered by Michael. His assistant was fantastic on the phone. All through great communication. Thank you! Khatch

We hired Zephyr Tents to work with us at Costanoa, near Santa Cruz. They provided us with a…read moregorgeous tent that was the hit of our event. We got a dance floor, heaters, and clear walls that were perfect for an indoor / outdoor feel for our event. Jenny was so easy to work with - she was prompt in responding, had great suggestions for us, and clearly knows her business through and through. We loved working with her and our Zephyr tent!

This is by far the Best tent rental place. We needed a Big…read moretent for our wedding reception and hired Zephyr tents. We couldn't be more happy with the men that set it up Rudd, Zack, Jack, Mike, Eyeli and Chan!!! I was concerned about my grass being killed from the dance floor but Rudd let me know that they try and leave a very small foot print! And he was right, after almost 4 days my grass only has a small showing that it was even there and will heal in a few days with some watering. They were on time for set up and very fast for what they set up and took down Thank You All for making our Special Day possible