I have been involved with CSMA for about 12 years or so, both as a parent and as a student. My son studied violin and piano, my daughter studied guitar, piano, and viola, and I myself took piano for several years before switching to fingerstyle guitar a couple of years ago. I also recently started voice lessons. I am a big fan of the place, in my opinion it's just great.
CSMA is a non-profit organization, which is not to say it's low-cost, the tuition is fairly high for the area. But I feel that it's more than justified by the extremely highly-qualified faculty and the wonderful facilities. I'm pretty sure that financial aid is available to low-income students. The school receives much support from corporate donors.
Besides private lessons, there are numerous other programs going on there, including a free concert series in the gorgeous multi-million dollar performance auditorium (Tateuchi Hall).
Check it out at www.arts4all.org, or stop by and visit. It's located on San Antonio Road at Central Expressway in Mountain View. You can pick up a catalog and various brochures, and there's always a cool art exhibit in the lobby.
