Student Testimonials
Mrs. Pat develops a strong personal bond with her students to foster the student’s individual learning…
and gets great results over time!
Kevin Mills, Professional Cellist
“There are not many teachers like Mrs. Pat. Her kindness and love for the cello establishes her as one of the best teachers for anyone looking to improve their skills. She takes the upmost care to make sure that all her students have a completely solid foundation of technique and musicality. Mrs. Pat was my first cello teacher and our lessons put me on a path that led to getting my Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and now I am currently playing the Los Angeles Philharmonic. My cello playing grew exponentially in our years together and perhaps one of the most important elements of our time was the ability to make music together; playing duets and constantly listening to each other is a key factor that helped me progress in the classical world. I owe everything to Mrs. Pat and I would absolutely encourage anyone interested in cello lessons to learn from her!”
“Most excellent teacher I could ever dream of. As a student who has been through middle school orchestra class and a dilettante music school, Pat has been by far the greatest teacher, mentor and influence. Truly a blessing to have such a teacher in my life. Because she is so flexible, she has time for a personal relationship and special kind of care that I haven’t seen in any other cello teacher. She pushes my skills in order to make me better and I am ever so grateful. Pat is never stagnant with her teaching, we are always trying something new. She is one of the most patient people I have met. She will spend as much of her time as needed, trying different techniques and strategies, to help me understand.”
“I was a struggling cello student and entertaining the idea of quitting cello….until I met Pat. Her passion and love for cello is absolutely contagious. She gives 100% at every lesson and I learned so much in such a short time period. I alway left her lessons feeling uplifted, empowered, and wishing the lessons were longer.
I consider Pat to be my “fairy cello godmother.” She infused a love for cello and music that I didn’t know was possible and has changed my music life for the better. I am forever grateful to her for her patience, understanding, compassion, love, and support. I would not be where I am today without her, and I love that even though I’m not her student anymore we still stay in touch. Pat is a wonderful human, cellist, and teacher. I couldn’t be more lucky to have had her as my teacher and I’m grateful to have the honor of being her student.”
“Pat always pushed me to do my best which was daunting at times. However, she always believed in my abilities even though there were times I didn’t believe in myself. She made me feel very comfortable with learning new things. My overall experience was very fun. She let me choose the music that I wanted to learn whether it was a classical piece or the Harry Potter theme. Pat taught me a lot of things that’ll stick with me throughout my music career.”
“Mrs. Pat was my cello teacher for 3 years when I was in middle school and high school. It was through Mrs. Pat I truly developed a passion and love for music. From my music teacher at school, I had picked up some bad habits with my bowings and fingerings that were hard for me to unlearn. During the process of unlearning these bad habits, however, Mrs. Pat was always very patient and understanding. She would always slowly go through the motions with me and make sure that I could get these basic skills down.
Her passion and love for the cello shone very clearly throughout each of our lessons together. Through her passion and dedication, I was able to find my own love for music and playing the cello. Outside of the scales, etudes and pieces that she assigned; she also allowed me to incorporate music of my own taste that I really enjoyed into our lessons to make it more fun. For example, Mrs. Pat knew that I really loved the Studio Ghibli movies and the soundtracks and she helped put together and transpose a couple of pieces from the movies that I could play.
I had such an enjoyable time during our lessons, I always looked forward to them every week. The effort that she puts into supporting each student is phenomenal as she always goes out of her way to ensure that each student is comfortable. She knows how to push students just enough so that they can improve and learn new skills, but also ensure that they are having fun.
When I was hospitalized for months at a time, Mrs. Pat went out of her way to bring her lessons and music to me and make it possible for me to play the cello in the hospital. Even when it was impossible for me to travel to her house to attend lessons because of my medical condition, Mrs. Pat went out of her way to come to my house instead to have our lessons. To me, Mrs. Pat was not simply my cello teacher, but also a friend, a mentor and someone I will forever be thankful for. She was someone who was there for me when I needed her the most. Her dedication to not only the cello, but to also her students is admirable. The time we spent together had a lasting Impact on me, even outside of my music career, and something I will treasure forever.”