Community School of Music and Arts

I attended a concert there by the Teal Crane Trio.
The music and the dancers were amazing.
I almost had a wonderful time, but actually could not enjoy the music most of the time. The reason is that several families were in the audience, and let their children turn the hall into a zoo. After the first two pieces, some children started dancing in the front of the room.
That was acceptable. However, very quickly, there were children everywhere, running,
talking, laughing, yelling.
It was hard to focus and appreciate the music. Even when Chin-​Fei Chan played Chopin, it was covered by the noise from the children. It was so rude and disrespectful. I felt sorry for the pianist, and very frustrated.
I don’t understand how parents can be so rude as to let their children run wild in a concert hall. It was a Saturday night, not 3 pm on a week day. My friend and I expected to have a lovely night out, we had not planned to find ourselves on a school playground.
Parents, if you can’t find a babysitter, please consider staying at home with your family. Don’t expect other people to watch your children.
Adults deserve to enjoy great and subtle music on a Saturday night.
The musicians should not have to endure this constant background noise.
I wish someone from CSMA had stepped in and asked the children to be quiet.

Terrible teachers for after-​school classes at elementary schools!
Hugely disappointed at the quality of the Art Club teachers that CSMA sent to our after school program at Huff elementary school. The teacher for Kinder for last year was simply catatonic. Not only that she would start 10 minutes late and end 5 minutes early and seemed to stare into space during the duration of the class. Parents complained and they sent a new one this year who isn’t much better overall. I have overhead her yelling at the kids several times over little things. My child does not want to go to class because says the teacher is «mean». Art is supposed to be fun! Needless to say we will be not be taking any more CSMA art classes, which is too bad because it is so convenient to be able to take art right after school! But I don’t want CSMA killing my child’s enthusiasm for art :-(
This is probably an issue I am thinking of taking up at a PTA meeting.

Horrible refund policy. I signed up an intro class and it didn’t fit my level of practice. I dropped the class within the 1^st week of taking the 1^st class. When I requested for the refund, they mentioned their policy (which is no refund after taking the 1^st class which I didn’t know) but they still told me they’d see what they could for me. The same guy who said he was gonna see if there’s any leeway to the refund policy called me back and told me that it’s because I dropped the class in the 4^th week so he can’t do anything, which is just a blatant lie as I dropped in the 1^st week. I told him about the sheet I signed which dated in the first week. He then told me to talk to the registration lady to find the sheet. I asked him then what next if the lady finds the sheet. He said well even if you have the sheet, we won’t refund you, as it’s stated in our policy then he reads me the policy. I then told him then there’s no need to further waste my time and I appreciate his calling. The most hilarious is that he said «if you wanna take private lessons with us we can further talk about it». I asked him how much of the supposed refund can be applied toward the private lessons. He said «I didn’t tell u we can give you any refund, but only we can talk more about it» and he told me he is late for his class and he’s gonna hang up. The whole conversation was rude, impatient and condescending.

I just finished a sewing class for adults at CSMA and I had a great experience! I went in with no experience on a sewing machine and left with 6 completed projects (as well as some I did at home with my new skills) and a new passion for sewing! My teacher, Kathleen Joynes, was experienced and knowledgeable with a great sense of humor. The class was structured with different projects to be started/​completed on certain dates which helps people like myself stay motivated and accountable, but the class also offered a lot of leeway if you are a slow learner or want to take a project in a different direction. The class allowed for a lot of creativity and freedom with the comfort of having an experienced mentor there to provide advice and structure. Would recommend to any beginner in sewing, or even people who wish to expand their existing sewing knowledge. I would love to take other classes at CSMA.

Drove 30 miles to attend a concert there. They had no more seats so they were turning people away in droves. They should plan ahead if they want to offer a free concert or at least let people know that seating is limited. What a waste of a Saturday night!

This review is for their Saturday classes for kids.
For the price they charge, their staff are semi-​professional at best. My daughter went on Sat. for several classes throughout the year (one class a quarter). Did not learn anything. They made her beat a drum during a play. I could get a monkey to do that.
The place seems to be poorly organized. For those who consider sending their young children for arts and music. Don’t bother.

What a wonderful place to see art and hear excellent music of all types, for free, or for whatever donation you can make. Love this place!

This review is coming from a 26 year old who spent more than a decade of her life at CSMA. If you’re the type of parent who wants their child to excel in playing the piano, you need to come to CSMA.
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HOW ON EARTH DO I AFFORD THIS?
Ask for their merit scholarship.
Now you might think «oh, her family is affluent and have money at their disposal for years of lessons»… Actually no. My family rented a room in east side San Jose for a majority of my life. We didn’t eat out at fancy places… The fanciest place we ate was Happi House (a Japanese fast food place). My mom stayed at home to take care of me and my brother, while dad was the only one working and we barely made ends meet.
CSMA provided scholarships for us, and my brother and I worked hard every year to maintain it. If you’re a parent reading this review and think you can’t afford it, talk to them. They’ll work things out one way or another, especially if your child is gifted in arts and/​or music.
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WHICH PIANO TEACHER DO I CHOOSE?
Ludmila Kurtova is THE BEST piano teacher in the Bay Area. Hands down. And I’ve had my fair share of teachers who never knew how to nurture my growth in music.
Ludmila’s students are a cut above. Listen for yourself. Look at the CSMA Calendar of events, and find the schedule of her students playing at Tateuchi Hall. We are also challenged musically every year through our aural (practical) and theory exams by the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) in England.
Playing the piano, I wasn’t afraid of failure or others finding mistakes. My goal was to make Ludmila happy with my performance, a tough feat! I won’t lie — I’ve had my fair share of tears after practices and performances, the feeling of distress when you’ve poured your heart and soul into practice yet you made mistakes in public. But Ludmila always reminded us of how talented we were, and brought out the musicality from each one of us. Overall, CSMA Is great, but what made it special for me was the love and devotion that Ludmila gives all her students.
Ludmila, thank you for everything you’ve done for me and my (not so) little brother over all these years. We still play, although you probably know that John has surpassed me in any performances. We miss your smile and will visit soon!
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HOW OLD DO YOU NEED TO BE TO BECOME A STUDENT?
Any age! I started at CSMA when I was 8 or 9, and was a student all the way until I went to college! My brother started at the age of 4. I’ve seen other students start while they were still drinking milk from their bottles and wearing diapers (not an exaggeration)! Honestly, it’s never too early (or too late) to learn an instrument. Of course, the younger you are, the more nimble your hands, but with a dedicated teacher like Ludmila, you’ll be playing pieces in no time.
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CAN I RENT CSMA FOR A PERFORMANCE OR PARTY?
Now as I got older, I still have CSMA close to my heart. My previous workplace used this location for graduations and events! The Tateuchi hall is perfect if you need an audience and a stage. It comes equipped with audio, lighting, projector screen, etc. we brought our own projector so I’m not sure if they provide this or not (we brought ours for convenience in flipping through slides).
The art collection in the lobby is constantly changing with different artists every month or so. The hallways are decorated with art from the students. And even though each room is soundproof (from the outside noises), we can still hear rehearsals and piano lessons while waiting outside. It’s somewhat relaxing to hear that cacophony, just like the few minutes prior to the start of a symphony performance.
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OVERALL
CSMA will take care of all your needs, whether you have the money for it or not. Music isn’t only accessible to those with money.
CSMA believes in arts for ALL.
Thank you CSMA and Ludmila for the change you’ve made in our lives. I just hope that one day I’ll be able to return the favor. Until next time…

I went to a chorus concert in Tateuchi Hall. It was a nice hall and enjoyed the concert.
I had passed this place many times but never been inside and didn’t know what building was.
Now I know it’s a nice place for music and art. I’ll check it out.

School facility looks great. Front desk staff are friendly and helpful. But, 1) the K-​Grade2 group art class size is BIG compared to similar program in other art schools (15+ kids in one class with 1 teacher Francesca Lovecchio & 1 assistant). The teacher is the only one teaching. The assistant is mainly helping with cleaning up or setting thing up; 2) The teacher is not able to provide adequate attention to each student given the big class size. 3) My daughter didn’t really enjoy the class. She thought the class is boring and asked not to go after the 2^nd class. 4) After we completed the entire session, my daughter didn’t seem to develop much drawing techniques. I couldn’t tell what the difference/​progress was made through the learning. I wouldn’t recommend the group art class to young kids (K-​Grade 2).
Now, we have signed her up at a different art school. She is much happier and eager to go every week for her art project.

We LOVE CSMA for so many reasons.
The cost is very reasonable and their instructors are superb and very patient. I primarily prefer the private music lessons because you really get the focused attention of the teacher. The group art classes are great! We Love Mrs. Devries for Voice and Ms. Francesca lovecchio for art!

This is a review for Do Re Mi lessons. I really wanted to like the class. The curriculum is great, children get to try out a couple of different instruments, listen to various pieces and learn the basics of music literacy. However, if your child is reserved, or has a bit of language barrier, or needs time to adjust to a new group setting, the teacher might not do a very good job of integrating him/​her. My son was very reluctant to participate and the teacher’s initial approach was to force him to sit next to her and keep calling on him. She meant well, but the result was that my son cried through the entire lesson, disrupting everyone. I was sitting in the lounge area the whole time, but the teacher claimed they could not find me. I suggested a new strategy, where my son be allowed to just sit and observe, slowly adjusting, which the teacher followed for the next month without any other attempts to draw him out. So my son just sat there in the corner. Once he awkwardly started coming out of his shell a little bit, he was reprimanded for misbehaving. Granted, this is not preschool, but a 40 minute class once a week, so I can’t expect much in terms of social development, but this is clearly not a good fit for us and we will not continue our lessons there.
Other kids who are less reserved obviously enjoy the lessons though.

my daughter is getting 2 private lessons per week (2 different musical instruments).
we started with art and music class when she was 2 years old, kind of good
experience, and then private music lessons from almost 2 years ago when she was
4 years old.
the thing is it is not like private lessons, there is no make ups at all when you can not
attend a session for any reason, for instance your child is sick or you are out of town.
so basically you kind of almost pay twice in compare to other private lessons in other places. my daughter attended other private lessons like swimming, drawing and etc and we pay if she attend, that I guess is the
different between private and non private lesson.
her piano teacher is very sweet and encouraging but at the same time, not teaching
exactly what she needs to practice at home and it is my responsibility at home
to teach her what to do which is pretty amazing to me since I have never
had any music lesson in my life and everything is as new to me as my daughter! but I guess the good thing is I learn at the same time as my daughter does.
this is her first piano teacher, so I can not compare the teacher to others and it is new experience to me as
well.
we continue the classes for now only because it is very convenient for me since the
place is right next door .
overall I recommened the place to start.

I have been involved with CSMA as a parent and a student for about 15 years. My two kids studied piano, viola, violin, and guitar between them, and I myself took piano and guitar for several years each.
In my opinion, CSMA offers the best possible resources for musical instrument training in this area. They have an outstanding management team and a superb musical faculty. The teachers are held to very high standards, and they combine superb technical skills with dedication and caring, which are equally important to receiving a good educational outcome.
The ultra-​modern facility is first-​class as well. Prospective students and parents would do well to visit the school and perhaps attend one of the many concerts or other cultural events that are held there regularly for the benefit of the community at large.
Although I have no direct experience with the art school side of things, I have every confidence that it operates on a similar high level to the music school.
I continue to give CSMA my enthusiastic recommendation, as I have done for many years.

Can’t say enough about Teacher Daniel’s music classes for little ones (3−5yrs). He offers Saturday morning classes, with lots of live guitar, hands on props, sing-​a-​longs and even a book read with lots of animation with sounds, or music, something rythmical. Both of my boys attended his classes. I wish they’d stay little forever so we could keep going every Saturday morning. What a gem of a music teacher. We still sing his songs at home from time to time.

I was very impressed with how age-​appropriate and fun my 5-year-old’s sculpture class was, while still managing to communicate a lot of information about different media and artists. Teacher Jo is incredibly patient, kind and skilled. My son loved it. We’ll be back.

Signed up for the Sound Sampler 6÷13÷10, $ 60, as an opportunity for kids to try out different instruments (trumpet, string, piano, guitar, drums, sax), meet instructors and learn about class curriculum, as advertised. The event was chaotic and poorly organized. And, there were only four kids in our group, so it’s not like they were overbooked. Kids only got a thirty seconds, if that, on the instruments and teachers seemed ill prepared. I later spoke to the Coordinator about my disappointment and she listened but was lame. This event should have been a freebie but at $ 60 was definitely NOT worth it. Needless to say, this experience did not inspire my child and we were not impressed w/​CSMA.

Top notch instructors!
I shopped around and tried different music classes for my toddler. She liked Daniel Garcia’s class on the Saturdays AM and the art class as well (also sat AM). I didn’t care for the other music instructor during the week. She’s a bit too uptight to be teaching little ones I thought. I guess it’s like any class for your kids. If you and your children like the teacher, for reasons that you might not know or understand why, it’s good to you.

This school has a HUGE range of classes for children. I was looking for an art class for my son and basically found there were about 10 different types of art classes for him to choose from and the class rates were very reasonable. The class was small, just four kids, so he got a lot of individual attention and really enjoyed the interaction with the teacher. I also like the fact that they had a comfortable waiting area with wireless so I could do some work on the computer while waiting for my son’s class to finish up.

The kids programs at CSMA offer a lot of bang for the buck! My daughter and I did the Adventures in Art for 2 year-​olds a few years back. It was so much fun! It’s a parent/​child participation class where the instructor reads a story then you and your child do three art projects all connected to what was just read. It didn’t take long to fill our house up with art. Considering the amount of supplies that went into each session, I felt it was pretty good deal for what I paid.
CSMA pleased us again by offering an after school art club at my daughter’s school. The paintings that have come home from those session are beautiful! It’s amazing what these teachers can inspire in elementary school children.
The school also gives back to the community several times a year by offering free concerts and performances as well as hosting a community art day during the summer. You can also have your birthday party on the premises! My daughter said it was one of the best parties she’s ever been to.
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