South Pasadena Strings Program

Do not go here! There’s many other great music schools like Colburn or the conservatory in Pasadena. My daughter was part of the strings program for a few years. The program is not about the kids. They played the same few songs over and over again. Never learned anything about music theory. The owner has no genuine care for the kids who are in the program unless maybe if they are extremely talented. All they care about is making money. The entire school is set up to stroke her ego and publicize how great her program is to attract more suckers. The teachers don’t stay and i heard from one teacher who quit that she paid the teachers less than $ 30 an hour for a graduate school level teacher. I can go on and on about how horrible the people are who are running it. My feelings were confirmed when I recently ran into the owners and they didn’t say a word to my daughter or myself. I had to ask her acknowledge her old student (my daughter). She asked her where she was going to college and when she heard the answer she walked about. She spoke the entire time to people around her about how great her daughters are musically.

Been in this program for over 3 years now. I take individual lessons and played with the orchestra. I’ve had many once in a lifetime experiences here. All the people are very kind: teachers, students and parents. I like that the teachers are strict and open and honest. This program is the best!

My children have been in the program for 6+ years and have not had any issues with the program. They have developed good techniques playing their strings using the Pascale Method. They both are in the Los Angeles Children’s Chamber Orchestra and private lessons. Families in the orchestra get along well with each other. The children are amazing when they perform!
If you have a child who is passionate about playing strings and willing to practice, this is the program for him/​her. Parent involvement is strongly encouraged, especially in the younger children (I went through this for 3 years). Key to success — practice, practice, practice!

A great music school with some great teachers on board and the nicest atmosphere for the kids to study and perform music!

Two years on from our first review, I want to note the outstanding experiences my son has had with this program. He’s played on stage at Carnegie Hall and, with his orchestra-​mates, won Gold. How many musicians can say that — at any age? He’s played in competitions — and won medals. He’s played recitals. He plays for his school. He’s a typical 12 year old boy (he hates to practice) but he’s had amazing opportunities that have made dramatic, positive contributions to his growth and maturity.
He’s taken lessons from outstanding professionals — who teach with this Program because the love the kids, the Director and the parents. He’s bee treated as a true musician — high expectations, but also respect, encouragement, support and love.
He truly loves the staff and the Director. He looks forward to practicing at their facility. He’s made many good friends and has had incredible experiences.
The Los Angeles Children’s Orchestra/​Los Angeles Children’s Chamber Orchestra (Now Pascale Music Institute) is a wonderful organization staffed by caring professionals who will work with your kids to help them be the best musician that they can be. We cannot recommend them highly enough!

My daughter has been in the program taking violin lessons for more than three years and she loves it. Her teachers have been great — Susan, Zach and now Clara. One of the really terrific aspects of the program is that the kids get to play in an orchestra and a quartet at a young age. They make friends and have fun. I highly recommend the program.

As an alumni of the program, I believe that this organization is extraordinary and has given me experiences I could have never received without it. I have been able to perform in Carnegie Hall (twice, once while soloing with my sister), the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Rose Parade on a float, and many other music competitions and experiences. Through the program, I greatly enhanced my skills as a violinist and and am now at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) for violin.

The great thing about this program is that you have the opportunity to play in different orchestras and chamber groups with your peers, which makes the rehaersals fun. If I were in a regular music program, I would have never been able to meet the friends I have, have a passionate love for music, and experience the enjoyable times of playing with other people. I am currently playing in a South Pas Strings Program quintet called the Flying Fingers with my friends, in which we play in gigs at weddings, graduations, and other events. I have met many people in this orchestra and the experiences in this program were awesome.

Although the orchestra can be demanding and challenging, the rewarding experiences and fantastic exposures to the music world here is well worth the practicing and rehearsals! It would be beneficial to discover more about this amazing program.

Having had a child that was in this program for eight years, I can say without a doubt that this program was (and still is) outstanding! Susan and her teachers were excellent. Lessons were fun and nurturing, inspiring children to do their best. A real added benefit was the performance opportunities given the students in Susan’s children’s orchestras, (such as performing at Carnegie Hall, the L.A. County Holiday Celebration live TV broadcast on PBS, music competitions at Disneyland, recitals at Kidspace and many more). From it’s humble beginnings over twelve years ago, Susan and AJ have now grown this program into one of the best in the greater L.A. area, now including teachers that are professional musicians from the L.A. Philharmonic. Susan takes a true interest in her students, being both a teacher and mentor to them. Even after your child graduates from this program and goes on to college, Susan is always there for her past students. It is sad to see that a few disgruntled parents can skew the overall rating of this superb program.

I’m not sure where all the negative reviews are coming from, but my daughter has been in this program for a year+ and the experience has been amazing. She now plays both violin and piano with incredible skill (especially for an 8 year old) and both the orchestra and the quartet she plays in have made incredible progress.
I encourage you research this for yourself. Ask some of the parents or better yet, attend one of the many free concerts Pasadena Strings provides around Pasadena. You will be amazed at how well these kids perform.
I truly believe a better musical instruction program does not exist in the Los Angeles area.
Oh, and my daughter loves the experience as well.

This school should be avoided. It is not a reliable program. There are better schools out there.

My kids really enjoy playing strings in this program because they have been playing together in an orchestra since they were 5. It’s more fun to play with peers than alone. Individual lessons are designed to help them grow at their own pace. We think the program will instill a long term love for music.

My son has been in this program for almost 2 years and was in kinder piano before that. I can’t say enough about how wonderful this program is. My son was painfully shy before we started this program and now his self confidence has grown beyond the violin. Ms. Pascale has created a very special community of kids and parents that we are very proud to be a part of. We are in private classes, orchestra and a quartet, my son loves them all. With some hard work the Pascale method makes learning easy and the community makes it fun. We are very grateful to have found this program and would recommend it to any family that is serious about learning to play a string instrument.

If I can give negative star I would. This is a horrible program. The director of the program is merely interested in over charging for music lessons rather than caring for children and promoting interests in music. If that’s not hard enough to swallow, she likes to bully children and parents and try to force you down path you do not want to go. I had 2 child going to their program. She put extreme pressure on both my wife and kids, that neither of them thought music was fun anymore. Ultimately, isn’t that why we attend these programs? She also can’t keep any good teachers because her over controlling nature, and underpays good teachers. South Pasadena Strings needs to realize these are paying customers, there needs to be a certain amount of respect and professionalism. It makes no sense to attend a program that overcharges, and disrespect and bully their customers.

Like Judy below, my son was having the time of his life in this program and with the orchestra. Two months ago, I would have repeated everything Judy said. In fact, her daughter and my son both appear in a video made by the Director. And then a simple thing happened — an instructor thoughtlessly moved a chair my 6 year old was sitting in which resulted in him falling off the chair, hurting his knee, and breaking the scroll off the violin. My beautiful child cried for that violin for 45 minutes. The instructor apologized. The instructor took full responsibility. The instructor went out of his way to help my son. The instructor paid for the damaged violin. Should have been a chapter you move on from. The Director, Susan Pascale, (who also happens to be the mother of the instructor), had basically an immature tantrum in front of other parents, attempting to «prove» that my son broke the violin regardless of being dumped out of the chair by the instructor. This of course resulted in two things: a second violin broken this time by the Director and my son being ousted from lessons with the Director (and with any other teacher) and ousted from the orchestra as well. Every parent out there should be extremely cautious of this program and the Director. There are other opportunities and music programs out there — ones that are not reliant on the capricious emotions of a Director who shouldn’t be teaching young children if she can so callously discard them at her own whim. It broke my heart to hold my little 6 year old while he cried for that broken violin and it was absolutely devastating when I had to explain to him that he couldn’t continue with the orchestra he loves so much because of the Director’s childish refusal to ever talk to him or our family again over a violin broken by her own instructor. And other families in this program? Well, not one of them was surprised — it is a common thing to be «kicked» out of the program on the Director’s whim.

This program ended up being an awful, painful experience for my children. There continues to be disputes between the owners and the teachers and a high turnover rate. The program used to be very good. But it has changed. I can not recommend this program to anyone. I would also encourage any parent to fully research instrument rental.

My daughter loves this program. She went through kinderpiano 1 & 2, kinderviolin, currently taking private lessons and looking forward to training orchestra. The instructions are children friendly with great emphasis on techniques. She is having fun and learning so much at the same time. No problems whatsoever with the director. She has been available, approachable and as flexible as she is able; my daughter enjoys seeing her every week. As a parent I did my research and knew if I wanted quality, it will require some sacrifice and commitment on my part. Yes, I can have someone come to my house and teach but it will not expose her to the opportunity of making music with others and all the wonderful recital opportunities.

I totally agree with the previous review. Your child «WILL» be dumped to the next new teacher they bring along so as to fill that teacher’s schedule. I’m taking about a new teacher every year, I’m not kidding. The absolute kicker is. the program director thinks she’s doing you a favor so that your poor child will be «exposed» to a wide range of teaching styles! They do have some good teachers. But be forewarned… they don’t stay long. What does that say about the program? The program is very expensive. I paid more for a 45min lesson than for a 60min lesson with another teacher that actually plays for the L.A. Phil!

As a parent who has some musical training, I felt it important to leave my thoughts regarding this program. My experience at South Pasadena Strings was horrendous. My child loved her teachers, but every time we settled into a nice and comfortable routine, the teacher left and was replaced by another. We later found out that the turnover was due to the fact that the program was paying the teachers very little, which I find amazing because our monthly bill was NOT cheap.
The head of this program is a lady (Mrs. Pasquel?) who was WAY to business minded for my taste. My child was terrified of her from the start, and only began to feel comfortable once she was put in a class with her private teacher. This lady starts out all the students (at least on violin), then passes them off to her teachers.
We are now continuing on with a private teacher and could not be happier. I was always taught by private teachers and am SO upset that I listened to my husband on this one and tried out the «school» approach. More expensive and less flexibility is NOT for me.
She did get some good instruction on how to first start playing the violin, but again, has only really begun to love playing and practicing since leaving SPS.
Just my opinion… but I would NOT recommend this place.