Palisades School Of Music

My family has attended this school for almost eight years. Mr.Thomopoulos (the director), the other five music teachers and secretary, are a great team. It's a wonderful environment and we've made many friends with other families of students. The teachers are very encouraging not only to their students, but to other students as well. Mr.Thomopoulos is very dedicated to his profession, it's his life. He teaches seven days per week. He is not only an extraordinary pianist, but an expert teacher and motivator.(we'll take a charming effective instructor, over a boring ineffective one, any day!). He can be tough, but If your child has what it takes, he will work hard to get them to competition level, provided that the parents are doing their part by being involved with; attending lessons, videotaping the lesson and doing their part at home by making sure the video is reviewed (a very effective learning tool), as well as encouraging practice. Many of the students continually win top prizes in competitions. Mr. Thomopoulos can draw out the musical abilities in a student that you've never dreamed possible. He has done that for my child (who had began as hopeless, to now an almost world class pianist) and hundreds more students throughout his four decades of piano instruction. Come to the school, see for yourself, ask any parent, and we can guarantee that they will agree. more

Palisades School of Music is a rarity. Compare to vast majority of schools that are happy to take your money, but not really teach a student how to play, this school is all about the art of making music. Classes are extremely intense and demanding, the teachers are excellent, each student is expected to perform at a concert at least 3 times a year (student recitals are held continuously throughout year). This school is not for those who want to dabble in playing piano, it's for people who desire to learn how to play. It is no surprise that its students consistently win the top prizes at performance competitions. My child studied at the Palisades School of Music and all we had experienced there was passion for music, dedication of the teachers and the thrills of live performances. more

This very talented but eccentric man has had a bit of a smear campaign against him. If people bothered to read the conviction he was accused and convicted of sending an e-mail and calling a teenage girl. I am not sure this is sensible behavior but not the type of criminal behavior suggested by the reviewer. As a former student and all the parents in the know agree there was never any evidence or feeling that any inapproriate behavior occured. As a very opinionated and chemically charged personality there have been distractors that have attempted to savatage this man's career. This school is not for the faint of heart it is for die hard musicians that want to become professionals. more