We had such a wonderful experience at Pacific Piano School, especially with Ms. Vera Gerasimov. My 5-year-old son is just beginning his piano journey, and she made his first experience so joyful and meaningful. Ms. Vera is incredibly patient and intuitive with young children. She gently guided him through reading notes while also giving him the freedom to explore and enjoy music in his own way. I truly appreciate how she blends classical foundations with modern music, it made the lesson both structured and fun. More than anything, I wanted my son to simply love music, and thanks to Ms. Vera, he's already building that connection. We're so grateful for her warmth, talent, and thoughtful teaching. read more

Both my kids have been taking lessons with Dr. Dante for years at PPS. We are so grateful for all the hard work and dedication you put into teaching them. Their progress on the piano has been incredible, and it's clear that your patience and passion for music are making a lasting impact. Thank you for inspiring them and helping them grow as musicians! read more

Ms. Yang is a highly responsible piano teacher with rich experience and exceptional skills. She is dedicated to her students. It is truly fortunate to be able to learn from her. read more

My daughter has been taking lessons from Dr. Yang for over half a year now and we can see the great progress she has made. Dr. Yang is highly focused on detail and has been very effective in helping my daughter eliminate some of her bad habits she had developed in the past. She is very dedicated and responsible which is making a big impact. read more

Both of my kids take individual piano lessons with Dr. Yang, and she's a fantastic teacher. She's very professional, dedicated, and truly puts her heart into teaching and motivating the kids. Dr. Yang genuinely cares about her students' learning and growth, and she helps them build a strong musical foundation step by step. She's also helping my son become more disciplined and focused. We're so thankful to have her as their teacher! We highly recommend Dr. Yang and PPS to anyone thinking about learning piano. read more

My kid has been learning piano from Dr Yang for almost 2 years. She is a very dedicated and responsible teacher, and she is excellent in discovering students' potential. During these two years, my kid has made big progress, not only developing perseverance when playing difficult pieces but also boosting self-confidence when accomplishing it. read more

My child is taking piano lessons, and it's amazing to see how much she's improving. Her progress has been truly dramatic!

We had a very bad experience with this place. My son was being taught for almost 4-5 years by Ms Anna Samipiani at PPS. Initially, in person, but during covid, it was online, and she never came back. My son didn't want to change teachers. My son was preparing for CM exams and did till level 5. The issue was Ms. Anna was never happy with my sons performance. Initially, this seemed right, but eventually, this turned into her achievement instead of my son's. She pulled his application to the CM level because she felt he wouldn't get the highest grade with honors. She called him a failure because he scored 82% in theory. We literally begged her not to pull his application, but she did that without our permission. They ruined his chances since he now cannot write that in his college applications. We received no support from the institute except for a refund on theory, which was paid three months in advance. They ruined his year and did not even refund the money. But more than money, they ruined his chance to clear the exam to save their image by showing that all their students get the highest grade and honors. Very self-centered of them, esp Ms. Anna who never inspired or believed in my son in the last few years. She was more worried of her own image. Called us ungrateful via email and that was quite something. read more

Our teacher is Zhao zhao Yang. She's amazing! My daughter won prizes in USOMC every year. Every judge comments mentioning that her piano teacher did a good job! read more

Dr.Dante is teaching piano very very well! My kid likes him and it is good for keeping the balance with piano and academic studies.

Dr. Yang has been an outstanding piano teacher for my daughter, who has been learning from her for the past five years. She is highly responsible, setting clear expectations and maintaining high standards that have helped my daughter grow both in skill and discipline. While Dr. Yang is strict in the best way--encouraging focus and dedication--she is also incredibly supportive and willing to spend extra time to ensure my daughter fully understands the material. We really appreciate everything Dr. Yang has done. read more

We are so fortunate to have Dr. Zhao Zhao Yang as our piano teacher for all three of our children. Dr. Yang is an experienced teacher who not only has great mastery of the piano but also a deep passion for teaching. She helps our kids develop strong foundational skills. We highly recommend her to anyone looking for a piano teacher! read more

I've been taking lessons with Dr. Dante for quite literally almost a decade now! Not only have I learned/developed so much in terms of music, I've also gained valuable life lessons that I use on the daily. I recently was a TA under his guidance and was able to further broaden my skill sets and experience as well. Dr. Dante is such a genuine and hardworking teacher, and I would not be the same person today without him. I would totally recommend his classes to anyone who is interested in learning piano! :) read more

Some of the most experienced and qualified teachers in the Bay Area. They are dedicated, professional, and compassionate. Absolutely no hesitation in recommending PPS to anyone seeking expert music tuition. read more

We have left them after a few years and have found a wonderful instructor nearby. Some instructors like Dr. Dante are verbally and mentally abusive. I won't go into too much detail, but one of the instructors actually advised our son to take drugs to calm his nerves before a performance. My advice is to try each instructor out and find the right fit. Just because one costs more doesn't mean they are better. You are the customer and have the vote of where to spend your money. read more

Perhaps you didn't know A piano school Can make you write poems... I Feel It is easy to learn when you have such amazing Caring teachers, Passionate about modeling you Into a real artist, Always by your side, Never giving up On you; Special people that shape your life, Creating memories, Holding your hand and teaching you One day One song at a time to Live your life to the full potential and rise above the clouds Into the sunshine. Surprise yourself every day when you Touch the piano and make divine music that will Heal your soul and melt the stars. Enjoy every moment when you perform Beyond your highest expectations. Expect the best and give your best, knowing that Skills that you learn here will last a lifetime. This is not the end, it is just the beginning! .................................................................................... I am truly impressed with Pacific Piano School and thrilled that my daughter is part of it! I have a profound admiration for everything the teachers at this school do for our children. From the first class, months ago, until today, they exceeded my highest expectations. We feel truly blessed to have Mr. Julian Toha as our daughter's teacher! Mr. Julian is the most wonderful teacher: kind, caring, patient, extremely knowledgeable, truly inspiring and passionate about modeling young children into real artists. He very easily connects to his students, so they get the most out of their lessons. All the effort that he puts in this studio speaks for itself: regular events organized for his students and their families (like the amazing Halloween Party) with the purpose of building a strong community, regular emails and webpage updates (see www.juliantoha.com/studio), a strong system in place to motivate the students and to recognize merits. In the few months since Mr. Julian teaches at Pacific Piano School, we witness the studio growing before our eyes. My daughter also grew exponentially in such a short time, from the beginner level to being chosen Student of the Month (in a studio with 40+ talented kids) and to even being selected to participate in a competition. When I saw her in the competition, I was speechless: I could see her confidence, and she was playing piano with pure passion, to perfection. My daughter absolutely loves her piano classes and her teacher! I HIGHLY recommend Pacific Piano School to everyone, and I hope that this OUTSTANDING school will continue to grow in the future! I truly believe this is the best place for your child to learn to play piano. *** PS: If you want to experience for yourself the top notch quality of this school, take a look at the latest video from Pacific Piano School, featuring the recent festival and competition in November, the Russian Festival 2014: http://youtu.be/3SLRI6jubvY read more

This is a wonderful school with talented musicians as teachers. Chinh Le in particular is an extraordinary teacher. David has grown so much with his instruction. He has performed in the honors recitals in large part due to Chinh's instruction and encouragement. The school prepared David to perform in the San Jose Youth Orchestra and in numerous recitals and performances. We highlight recommend this school for your child. read more

Our daughter has been attending this school for her piano lessons for 3+ years. Although it is 30 minutes drive from our house, we choose to stay in this school due to the high-quality education this school and teachers offer. Our current teacher is Mr. Julian(http://www.juliantoha.com/). Mr. Julian is a very passionate pianist. He loves kids, plays with them, and would go well above and beyond piano teacher's role to arrange activities throughout the year to get kids engaged in the education process. Recently, my daughter attended the Trick-Or-Treat event hosted in his studio where Mr. Julian would wear the funny dinosaur costume :-). Last Saturday the studio just had a Bowling event sponsored by Mr. Julian where all the kids had so much fun. Mr. Julian also co-develops a mobile App. This App is very useful. Students can upload practice videos to the teacher, and Mr. Julian would watch it and gives guidance on where to improve. This is done between weekly classes. Gone the days where I have to write emails to the teacher and ask questions (believe me, it is VERY hard to explain what is the question in words). You can send a video and ask the teacher if it is right or wrong. As a parent, we really appreciate Mr. Julian's approach and his running of the studio. My daughter now ~loves~ to go to the class, and that includes the THEORY class as well ^_^. I heard so much laughter from his studio while sitting outside waiting for my daughter's theory session. The whole school is very well organized by Mr. Dmitry. Every year there are two recitals (Spring, Winter) that all students will attend, and subsequent honor recitals for selectively outstanding students. There is an annual school-wide competition recital as well. All these recitals offer the real on-stage experience for kids, serving as milestones as they are growing up year by year in their music career. All in all, we are very pleased in our piano teacher and school, and would heartedly recommend to you. read more

We've been with PPS for the past 2 years. We started when my girl was 5.5 years old. She and I love the school. She is getting a well-rounded musical education with piano, music theory, and voice lessons. She loves all her teachers and the school itself. From the parent's view I feel that any concern I ever had had been addressed immediately. I feel that I can approach anyone on the stuff from my teacher to the director of school at any time. Outside of face to face interactions, I can always call and email, and get a response in a very timely manner. The school not only promotes the musical education, but also teaches children to be comfortable on stage. Outside of the recitals, that are scheduled twice a year, there is also a competition, which runs in Oct time frame every year. The kids are encouraged to not just go on stage and play, but also introduce themselves and the pieces they are playing. Here is a link to my daughter's singing performance in Oct 2015 during the school competition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aih8jF7erGc Moreover, I feel that administration is working hard on matching the kids to the right teachers. Each family has its own goals, and the kids are matched to the teachers, given availability, of course. As I read the negative review for the school, it seems that the person had been in a completely different place. If anyone has a problem with any business it is better to approach the owner to resolve it, before slamming it with the unsubstantiated negative review. Moreover, the beauty of the area is in the fact that there is another school just down the road. Personally, I have not seen any of the problems that are mentioned, and given the fact that I am with the school for over 2 years, that should say something. read more

Both of my daughers learn from Mr.Julian. He is the best piano teacher my daughter ever has! He gives customized teaching plan for each individual student. He not only teaches you how to play piano, but also teaches you how to make your own plan to learn a new piece step by step. Changing spone feeding to self learning. He also gives non music backgroud parents advise how to help your kids learn piano. In his studio, all the students and parents are a big family. We have monthly social event. We get to know each other. Mr. Julian also created a reward system to encourage students. Talking about how good is Mr. Julian's Piano skill, you can check his website www.juliantoha.com . He just finished his concert tour around the world in 180 days in this year. He taught my daughter - playing piano should be like to tell a story. Nobody would like to hear a robot playing piano. I can see the changes how my daugjter plays. In PPS, we have tried other teachers too. They are also very good . Mrs. Maretha is my daughter's previous teacher. She is very good for a beginner who needs a lot of patience. My daughtet loves her a lot. Since the new director Mr. Dimetry took in charge, I saw a lot of changes happen and they are good. He brought in a lot of new high quality teachers into this big family. Our school is also expending. You will find a good teacher suits for your need. read more

I have only good things to say about this school. First I have two daughters and two different instructors our 5 yr old was having difficulty learning by paying attention and her instructor and Director were understanding and flexible about it that I had to stop her classes and never felt any pressure and our 15 yr old has been taking lessons since last year with Dr. Dante who is superb at what he does; in less than a year she had her first recital and it has been a sweet delight listening to her playing, accomplishing so much in such little time is very gratifying. On a small note: I will say that if any one has a negative thing to say, before making a negative review, approach any concerns to the Director or instructors , communication goes a long way and everyone at the Piano academy is very understanding and helpful. read more

My experience here was very disappointing. While my assigned teacher had impressive academic credentials he was a poor teacher. Degrees and education mean nothing without the ability to teach, experience, and knowledge of piano pedagogy. Lessons were unstructured. My teacher seemed to have little knowledge of appropriate level pieces to assign. He would spend too much time playing himself rather than instructing. Each time I needed music or books, the school was out. The director is rude and unprofessional. He filled the teachers schedule with new students...then "promoted" him and raised tuition less than three months into starting lessons. read more

This is a long overdue review for the school. My son has been studying piano at the school for 3.5 years and my daughter has been studying for about a year now. I have personally referred a lot of my friend to the school but not yet spent time to write the review. Both of my kids are studying under Mr Julian and I echoed all the compliments from other parents. He has personalized curriculum for all the kids. Since both of my kids have different interest and personality, he gave them different pieces to work on, not just playing through a set book. He also encourage parents to upload practice video between lessons and spent his personal time to give comments, checking practice progress. Beyond that, he hosts recitals in addition to schools recitals. He hosted parent duet recital encouraging the whole family to enjoy playing music, and he also hosted pop recitals, kids can play their favorite movie game songs. He even taught and helped kids to organize the recital. The kids received more than piano education, music education, it's more well around education than I can image. The school is well organized by Mr. Dmitriy. He posted year schedule before the school year starts, so family can plan schedule accordingly. There are 2 recitals for each student a least, spring and winter and semester check of the progress. He himself spent 2 whole days, over 12 hours at these 2 school recitals to listen each student performance and gave ratings. The best students are chosen to play in the honor recital, this is a good way to encourage student to practice and improve performance. In addition to school recitals, honor recitals there is music festival competition in the school. Also each teacher helped their kids prepare for CM test and other music competitions. Beyond all the recital and competition, the school also organize summer camp in lake tahoe. My son loved the summer camp, during the 8 day camp, they spent 4-5 hours learning and playing piano every day then do all kinds fun activities like fishing and swimming etc the rest of the time. Mr Dmitriy, Dr Yang and Dr Dante taught my son in the camp last year, and they are all top notch pianists like Mr Julian. They all had a lot of experience teaching kids piano. Piano is not easy to learn, but they have made the experience so fun. My kids never wanted to miss any piano lessons. I recommend the school to all parents who want the kids to learn music, all the teachers are great. They also have violin and vocal classes. read more

My daughter has grown dramatically both in technicality and musicality after being with Dr. Ilya Blinov for just a little under a year. His teaching style is amazing and very effective. He has a very calm personality and has tons of patience with his students and that works extremely well with my daughter. He always say words of encouragement to the kids or give positive feedback. Love his analogies when he tries to help the kids understand how to play the piece better. It's so hard to find a teacher who is great in performance and yet great with teaching. Dr. Ilya Blinov has both of those qualities in him and his students are quite fortunate to have him as their teacher. (Did I mention that Dr. Ilya Blinov is a great concert pianist also?). His recent concerts, The Seasons by Tchaikovsky and Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky were enlightening. Our other child's teacher is Mr. Julian Toha. There are many great reviews for Mr. Toha here already and I totally agree with them all. I would like to add that Mr. Julian is not only great with teaching kids, he is quite an amazing artist and very creative. If your child is a creative one, Mr. Julian could help bring out that creative side of your child. Mr. Julian also helps the kids composing their own songs if they show an interest in doing so. With less than a year, Mr. Julian was able to bring our son's performance skills to the next level. He can play a piece of music expressively and really enjoyed performing them. Our son also loves his theory class. You will hear tons of laughter coming out from the theory class. Julian makes the class very interesting and our boy loves going to class every week, especially the theory classes. I don't know of any kids who doesn't love Mr. Julian. If you ask a kid why they like to go to piano class, the kind of a respond you would get from the child is "because of you, Mr. Julian". :) About the school...this is a great piano school and in part due to the dedication of the Director and Associate Director, Mr. Dmitriy and Dr. Lyubov Kosovskiy. They care to have highly qualified teachers for the school so that every child can get a good piano, violin, and voice education while attending PPS. The school's program design allows ample opportunity for student performance via recitals, honors recitals and music competition. They would take the time out (2 full days) to listen to every single child's performance during the recitals period which occur 2x/year. They listened and provided feedback for improvement. It is this level of dedication from the Directors plus the many great teachers here which make this school a wonderful place for your child's music education. read more

This is my first Yelp review, forgive my incorrect grammar. Agree with other reviewer, my son's teacher made similar note about the school and selection during recent recitals. It was not like this before. Better if school change and treat teachers and kids nicely. Very sad that owner is attacking them directly in Yelp instead of changing. read more

I enrolled my 4 years old for the group lessons without much expectation. I just wanted her to get her started on music. However, after 10 months, I am proud to say that she can play better than me(I took 1 year of piano lessons back in high school). She can read all the piano notes and know all the beats. My husband and I are still super impressed everyday seeing her play. Mr. Julian is incredible! He's passionate, patient, and extremely hard working. He has high expectation, which can be a little stressful sometime but the end result is amazing and worth the effort. Also the recitals are very helpful. It helps them build presentation skills in front of large crowd read more

I have been teaching and involved with PPS for a few years. It is a great place to work, and the directors - past and present - have been incredibly supportive. Of course teachers have been let go, but in my experience it was because they did not produce results. The past director, Dr. Polonsky, and his wife Anna, have always been amazingly knowledgeable, passionate, and caring about all students and their piano tuition. The current director, Mr. Dmitry, is equally passionate about piano and makes sure he gets to know every student individually. He has already brought a lot of positive changes to the school, and he is unfailingly polite and positive about all the teachers. In answer to Carlos B., the rooms have upright pianos, and students are taught on those. In the past there were group classes presented on keyboards -- the same things happen at all piano schools -- but the program has been discontinued. All pianos get tuned on a regular basis. The past and present directors of PPS have been Russian, and so are a lot of the teachers. They, and us by extension, instil the values of the Russian piano tradition with a focus on beauty of sound, a wide range of emotional and dynamic contrast, technical excellence, and cultural uplift. What books or methods used is beside the point. I would invite anybody to attend one of our numerous recitals or festivals, or attend any lesson, and see how well these "unmotivated kids" are doing. read more

I've taken my kids to this school for many years and the teachers are just amazing. I love the concerts they do, makes me so proud to see my little ones perform live on stage. Thank you Ana and Viktor for the wonderful lessons and memory. read more

This review is for Mr. Julian Toha who is my son's teacher for the last 10 months. My son actually was losing his motivation and passion about Piano. It showed on his performance as well his practice. At one point last year, he learnt just one song (not even completely) for over 6 months and hence, he had to forego the money paid for his CM6 test. Then enter Mr. Julian. Within first few classes, he assessed my son and changed his approach to music lessons. I was surprised as I started seeing change in my son's attitude towards music classes as well practicing it. He grew passionate about music and he even started composing his own pieces, which is totally unbelievable a few months ago. I definitely would recommend Mr. Julian Toha for Piano lessons. As others mentioned here in Yelp, apart from being a music teacher, he also has other important skills like communication, influencing capability, listening skills and compassion. read more

I know the title of the school does not have anything to do with violin or viola, but this school has one if the best violin/viola teachers in the San Jose area. Mr. Chinh Le is patient, kind and caring. He really does want to see the student succeed. My daughter took lessons with him for over a year and her progress was remarkable! There are recital opportunities which gave my daughter a goal to strive for. We moved out of the area so we had to leave the studio. But my daughter really excelled under Mr Le's direction. read more

WARNING!!!before you enroll into this school. Our son has been going to this piano class for few years and it has changed a lot recently. Director seems to be very greedy and thinking more and more about more money and is very rude to parent. They are focused more on how many classes each kids are enrolled in rather than individual kid's talent. Our piano teacher mentioned that "kids with more classes per week will be given preference over other kids with one class during recital performance selection". We were totally shocked when we heard this explanation from our teacher. This was not the case before. Teachers are pressurized by Director to bring more money from each parent, so asking for more classes per week. They also hiked the tuition fees by 14% recently, when we checked with our teacher, he said that money goes to fund the new piano school acquisition and not to to teacher's salaries. This is ridiculous. So, think about all these torture before enrolling your kids in this music school. I had checked with other parents and they also have the same thoughts. read more

Mr. Julian Toha at PPS is a great music teacher. No, he is more than that, he is an educator, an inspirer, and a friend to Lucas. My son Lucas is 7. Under him, Lucas becomes not just practicing piano but enjoying music. Mr. Toha doesn't just spend time in the classroom. He also arranges recital events, small or big, giving chances to students to perform with audience, to build their skill and confidence. As parents, we are so thankful that our son could have Mr. Toha as his music teacher and friend. read more

My niece is taking piano lessons at this school. I am a musician myself and I have to say that her progress is very impressive. All of the teachers are very knowledgeable, professional and love their work. They have recitals at least 2-3 times a year and I can see how much my niece is growing after each one of them. If you really take the music education seriously, you should consider sending your kids to this school. read more

My daughter has been with PPS now for almost an year. Initially she struggled with one of the teachers but when I requested a change they scheduled my daughter with Ms. Jisook who is an excellent teacher. My daughter now looks forward to sessions with her. Loves playing piano and has grown and developed exponentially under Ms. jissok's tutelage. Ms. Jisook's love for her students is genuine so is her desire to imbibe an appreciation for music in them. And this definitely shows. I see my daughter growing well under Ms. Jisook in the coming years. Thanks Ms. Jisook and PPS keep up the good work. read more

Polonsky surely good facility for Music but costs too high as my kids were attended at their school in Cupertino way ways ago. We now goto local music teacher for cheaper per hour and for more popular songs instead of Classical. "My way" is a lovely song to me. I still love Polonsky Piano School. read more

I am very disappointed with new owner Dimitry, with no manner and only wants money. He increased price after previous owner left. I am a very eager student and try to learn piano, but I didn't learn anything from him, I still stay the same level. He is alway no show on his lessons, if he is sick it is acceptable, but he is no show because he takes care of his business, left his student behind, let substitute to teach, without my parents permission ,even using interviewing teacher to teach, He waste my lots of time, my parents paid the same " master" price for his interviewing teacher lesson. He is also rude to me and my parents. Now I move to a new studio, I am happy I will never see his face again. read more