April 22, 2005

New music school to open in Evergreen

Piano, violin recital Sunday, April 24

Polonsky Piano School (PPS)—the Russian School of Music—presents its annual Spring Honor Recital of piano and violin music on Sunday, April 24 at 12:30 p.m. The concert, presented by the school’s most advanced students, will be held in the Santa Clara University Recital Hall on the corner of Lafayette and Franklin. Admission is free.

Anna Polonsky works with one of the Polonsky Piano School’s students.

Founded in 1996 in Santa Clara, Polonsky Piano School expanded to locations in Saratoga and West San Jose and is now in the process of opening a new location in Evergreen Village near Lunardi’s.

“We are very excited about opening our new branch in Evergreen,” said Viktor Polonsky, who founded the school with his wife Anna. Both are Russian-born concert pianists. “Many students come to our existing locations from this area, and many more students have called the school, requesting that we open a location in Evergreen.”

More than 400 piano and violin students are currently enrolled at the school, studying with 30 teachers from countries such as Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Taiwan, China and Japan, as well as the United States. All teachers of PPS have received their bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in their native countries and in the United States, blending their international experience into their piano and violin teaching methods.

After emigrating to the United States in 1990, Anna and Viktor worked as professors of piano at Miami and Dayton Universities and concretized in this country and abroad in Italy, Israel, Canada, the United States, Russia, Georgia, Moldova, South Korea, Australia and Brazil.

“We strongly believe that every child can and should learn music—that music lessons develop intellect, as well as the soul of a person,” said Victor. “We also believe that performance activities are a very important part of music education.”

All PPS students perform at least two to three times a year, participating in studio recitals, competitions, festivals and national auditions. “All these performance activities give students confidence and boost their interest [in music]; they provide an incentive to continue lessons and a goal to strive for,” said Anna.

“They teach young kids to share their abilities in piano and violin with other people, and that music is about communications, feelings and ideas,” added Viktor.

Anna and Viktor Polonsky, founders of the Polonksy Piano School, pose with some of their award-winning students. They will be opening up an Evergreen branch this year at Evergreen Village near Lunardi’s.

The school’s philosophy is exemplified by the number of PPS students preparing for an International Russian Competition, the Western State Competition and the Chopin Competition at the San Francisco Conservatory. Just last February, a few PPS students won in the USA Open Competition, and another student is currently a finalist in a Beethoven competition among 86 participants. One PPS student decided to become a professional pianist and has been accepted to Indiana University’s prestigious School of Music.

In addition to individual piano and violin lessons, PPS offers group preparatory classes for very young children ages 3 – 4 years old, a group violin class, as well as group piano classes for youth and adults who would like to learn piano in a more relaxed and fun environment.

In addition to its music offerings, the school offers chess and/or math lessons with the well-known Russian master, Dr. Edward Dagman. The Polonskys believe that like music, chess and math are also arts that require the same type of abstract thinking as music. “Both develop a child’s intellect, complementing and enhancing each other,” said Viktor.

The school also offers an intensive Piano/Outdoor Activities Summer Camp for 10 days on Northern California shores for its most talented and serious piano students. Enrollment is limited to eight students in each session offered in June and July.

To learn more about this school and hear some of its best students, visit the Spring Honor Recital on April 24, where you can meet and talk to the Polonskys in person. You can also call the school at (408) 257-6181 for more information or visit the Web site www.polonskypianoschool.com.