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“Vitaly has proven to be an uncommonly successful teacher whom I regularly recommend to the very finest young talents and parents who seek my advice. Vitaly knows what is required to bring gifted pianists to thepoint of producing a first-rate piano sound, through the proper use of finger, hand and arm weight. Much of this comes from his thorough understanding and mastery of what is perhaps the best technical approach in the piano world, commonly known as the Russian school of piano playing.”

“Svetlana is a very dedicated and knowledgeable piano teacher! She is the best teacher I’ve had after many previous instructors. She works well with many age groups and I can tell she truly enjoys her work. I learned so much from my time with Svetlana because she has a way of explaining material that’s easy to understand and useful for piano playing. She really helped me grow as a pianist and I would not have progressed the way I did without her help. Svetlana and Vitaly make a great team and both have the best intentions for their students. I would highly recommend this facility for your piano lesson needs! ”

“Vitaly isn’t just any piano teacher. He’s brilliant and talented, and passionate about music and getting it right. He has a unique way to engage with his students, and he makes even the most boring scale playing fun. He also dissects and explains the music in the most intimate way - sort of getting into the heart and soul of the piece by sharing about the composer, background and story, as well as the feelings conveyed in it. Any piece, after Vitaly handles it, with all the notes and emotions in it, jumps off the page and comes to life - that’s when the fun of playing piano begins!”

“Vitaly has been our son’s teacher for a year. Although our son is very musical and was exposed to a lot of music at home and school, he resisted the piano for a long time. Vitaly advanced our son’s pianistic skills dramatically from none to competently performing in Studio recitals in a very short time. Even more importantly, Vitaly helped our son grow in his musicianship well beyond the confines of the instrument and pianistic technique. He does that on several levels. First and foremost, Vitaly insists that the music lessons should be fun and that the student should enjoy them. Music cannot be a chore. It has to be enjoyed. Vitaly achieves that through selecting the repertoire of the various study pieces from the classical literature for the piano (and occasionally piano transcriptions). His emphasis is on meaningful pieces that will not be simply providing a technical challenge, but will provide an emotive vehicle for the player. When my son learns a new pieces, Vitaly always help him dissect the piece harmonically and rhythmically. Together they explore issues of dynamics, color, interpretation, history of music and so on. Thus the lessons are not merely piano lessons but rather a complete in depth introduction to music. Music theory and ear-training organically grow out of the lesson. Dictations and solfège are par for the course and are always a fun part of the lesson.Even technical drills as simple as playing scales become a game and an opportunity to let the student’s creativity to shine (the student picks the rhythmic patterns). Vitaly cleverly works on his students’ natural competitiveness by employing smartphone apps that encourage the student to practice and provide real-time feedback. Vitaly seeks – and succeeds! – in conveying his own love of music to the student. He invites his students to his recitals, for example. These provide the students with a role model to emulate and work toward while allowing the students to get familiar with the great musical treasures that await them. Vitaly is a complete musician and therefore is capable of revealing the musical sides of his students, even those that probably will not end up with a concert-piano careers.”

“Vitaly is not only an extremely gifted player, instructor and composer of piano music, he’s an even finer person when you meet him. He is a dedicated, professional teacher who has the kind & patient discerning fortitude to draw out the best in my son Anderson’s gift of playing classical music. In Anderson’s 3 years with Vitaly, he has achieved school, neighborhood recognition as a virtuoso with the numorous, breathtaking marathons he can play. I can recommend Vitaly, a world phenom performer at New York’s Carnegie Hall, and a PHD candidate extraordinaire, to anyone without reservation, the BEST !”

“Vitaly is an outstanding piano teacher. While a gifted, world class concert artist, his passion is for teaching his art. He has a genuine love of passing on his knowledge and skills. As a retired piano teacher I have taken lessons from Vitaly. Above all, he is kind and unthreatening. He genuinely loves people and teaches with a great sense of humor. Having been trained in Russia, Vitaly brings piano technique, music theory and history, and musical artistry to his students from both the Russian and American perspectives. He urges his students to tell a story through what they are playing. He wishes to promote the highest excellence and is able to motivate this desire in his students. Having attended Vitaly’s students’ recitals, I know that he is able to communicate these skills. Children love him! You will fall in love with his cheerful, positive, and encouraging nature!”

“Svetlana is an effective teacher; she is rigorous but not intimidating.  She is the third teacher we tried over approximately 5 years.  She provides a complete piano instruction that includes music theory, performance, ear training, and exposure to a diverse music
material. She is patient. She identifies the strengths and weaknesses of her students and designs the lessons accordingly.  We are delighted to have her as our children’s piano teacher!”

“I’ve been taking lessons from Vitaly and Svetlana for a few years now and I have to say that I have loved taking lessons from both of them. Learning from them has not only improved my technique more than any other piano teacher I’ve been with, but also helped me to become more confident when performing, and expand my horizons, in terms of composers and genres. I am very thankful for all the lessons I have taken with both Vitaly and Svetlana as they have helped me not only grow as a performer, but a person!”

“Our three girls took weekly piano lessons from Anne for years. Her enthusiasm and love for music made lessons a joy! She tied in exciting stories corresponding to the lessons being taught. She is a true professional, and we highly recommend her!”

“My daughter, Karen, was eight years old when she started taking piano lessons with Mrs. Svetlana. Karen did not have any prior experience with a musical instrument or music theory. I cannot tell how Svetlana did it, but she lit up in Karen the passion for music and playing the piano. So far, Karen has played several pieces of different composers, different periods as well as different genres. We had the luck to meet Mrs. Svetlana and to have her as our teacher. Svetlana’s teaching approach evolved according to my daughter’s skills. Svetlana was very thoughtful selecting the pieces and technique exercises for Karen. It is amazing the amount progress of my daughter during these years with Mrs. Svetlana, the progress that not only involves the technique level, sight-reading skills, and difficulty of the repertory; but also, personal aspects such as discipline, patience, commitment, and self-confidence. Besides a wonderful person, Mrs. Svetlana is an amazing and very dedicated teacher, she has the gift to wake up the passion for music and playing the piano, thank you, Ms. Svetlana!”

“I took vocal lessons from Anne throughout high school, as well as sang in the children’s choir of my hometown, which she directed. Ever since I began singing for her, I knew she had a passion for teaching. She took 40-50 area children, corralled us into a church hall, and taught us the basics of music and singing. We traveled to many churches to sing, but our biggest adventure was traveling to Chicago to perform. My admiration for her teaching style came into fruition in high school when I took vocal lessons. She never cared how I sounded (or how I thought I sounded), she was always there to encourage and inspire. I will forever cherish the hours I spent in her living room, next to her grand piano, attempting to yodel between my chest voice and falsetto. She instilled a sense of drive in me that I couldn’t have gotten from anyone else.”