Orchepia School Of Music

I have been bringing my daughter her for two years now. I really like the school. Her instructor is amazing. Prior to this school I had tried several different schools and private teachers and I feel like she has advanced much more with this school.

I never believed those one star comments on Unilocal ’cause I always doubt the validity of them until I sent my kid to this place. People in Orchepia care nothing but your money. If you just want to find a place to spend your money but wear off your kid’s passion for music, congrats, this is the right place to go.

My daughter comes here for piano lesson for almost 2 years now.
So far we are happy and satisfied.
My daughter’s teacher has been wonderful and we see tremendous improvement.
When you send your kid (s) to music or any kind of school, you need to get involve too so you can get the most of it.

Excellent school. My daughter attended from several years. Her last teacher played professionally and is from one of those famous schools (Julliard). She’s well– traveled and performed in Europe as well. We bought tickets to her piano concert. Unfortunately, we had to move to another school temporarily because of scheduling, but will be back! You get what you pay for because the teachers here are the best in Irvine.

They ask for $ 50 enrollment fee plus $ 20 semester fee plus $ 160 deposit !!!

I have tried several different schools and private teachers for my girls. A friend recommended this school to me a year ago. It is about a 30 min drive from my house but definitely worth the trip. I am very happy with the progress I see in the kids piano techniques. The teachers are very professional and attentive. The director constantly evaluates the students progress. I will continue making the drive here and recommend this school to anyone that is serious about learning.

It is a horrible place. Their only concern is earning as much money as possible from you. The lessons are $ 30 for 30 minutes. As a piano player for many years who has taken the CM tests I can guarantee you that your child will not learn anything in 30 minutes. The rooms are also tiny and cramped and smell of stale air. The curtains of the windows are always closed which creates a claustrophobic environment. The best bet is to just hire a private tutor who comes to your house and teaches you for an hour and a lot cheaper.
They also offer theory but the problem is they just give you theory worksheets and expect you to understand everything I your own. There are several theory teachers but none help you. Or even if they do they can’t explain it very well.
In all Orchepia is in this business more for the money than the music. You will not find any warmth here, or a nice relationship with your teacher.

Orchepia has solid, structured music instruction for beginning and intermediate level students. My daughter just turned 7 and is playing better than many of her peers who are 9 and 10 years old. The convenience of having music theory independent study — type classes either before or after the music lesson is very helpful. Both my son and daughters teachers are positive, enthusiastic, and kind. While my son may not be a «talented musician» he loves playing piano. My daughter loves her piano experience so much she started taking violin lessons at Orchepia, too. I think that there are a lot of sour parents who may not be musicians (I am, play the violin and piano and viola), who may be thrown by teacher turnover. We’ve had the same excellent teachers and I would take the transparency and organization Mr. James has (recital programs, pre-​recital tests to check readiness, CMAT levels, and teacher alternations encouraged) over other independent private teachers and schools.

My child has been taking piano and music theory lessons at Orchepia for 9 months. Orchepia seemed to be a one of the premier musical education schools so we eagerly enrolled our child there.
As an adjunct to piano lessons, my child studies music theory in a group setting. He brought his theory book home and my wife, who has a masters in music noticed pages after pages his incorrect answers were not marked as wrong or corrected in any way.
She contacted James, the owner, and asked why wrong answers on the theory book were not marked as incorrect. James told her that we could not expect papers to be graded or checked for correctness in a group setting and that we should enroll (for extra $$$) in private music theory lesson or drop the theory lessons.
As an alternative, James suggested that we find an hour when it’s less crowded so our child can get additional attention. This means we would have to make two trips to Orchepia per week, one for piano lesson and one for the theory lesson.
Um, note to Orchepia: When you teach a subject, reviewing and correcting responses come with the territory, telling us to pay for a private theory lesson is not acceptable.
Needless to say, we have actively started looking for a better alternative to Orchepia. What’s the point of offering a class if wrong answers are not corrected (for the amount of money Orchepia charges?)

Having tried out several music schools throughout Orange County, Orchepia charges the most for half hour lessons. I decided to go with Orchepia because I felt that music education isn’t something that I should be cheap about. Most teachers are not DMA quality and seems like the school is filled with foreign nationals. James Kim barely speaks English understandably. The school recently closed down its Barranca campus so everyone was forced to go to the Northwood site.
Lately, it has become apparent that a lot of the higher quality teachers have left or are leaving Orchepia and there seems to be a general low morale amongst the teachers. I hear them complaining a lot to themselves when I pick up my children. It is just not right to subject my son and daughter who have been with Orchepia for about half a year to switch teachers while they are still developing their skills. This is the most critical period in their musical development.
Whatever is going on internally with Orchepia needs to be sorted out quickly. As of now, I will not recommend any of my friends and their children to Orchepia.
That being said, I must say that Orchepia does have very good facilities. However, I really would like to see the teachers take a more active role in musical development such as chamber music or concerts where teachers perform and not just teach.
PS — Do not do theory with Orchepia. It’s an utter waste of money with incompetent theory teachers that really don’t know what they are doing.

I am a proud Orchepia parent and have had my three children take music and art lessons at Orchepia throughout the past 10 years. Orchepia truly is a unique and innovative music studio that is incredibly convenient as it is reliable. All of the teachers are great, with strong backgrounds in music that know how to make music fun, yet educational.
In my experience, Orchepia is highly reputable in all instruments and departments. It is incredibly decently priced for a high quality music education that looks great on college applications. I would definitely recommend parents to this institution!
P. S. When calling for additional information, ask for James or Mary. They are the founders of the studio and extremely helpful if you have any questions!

My son is now taking piano lessons with Miss Irene. I still appreciate Orchepia as much as I ever have.