Mike Risko Music School

Music Lessons for all ages, levels, styles and instruments.

I would recommend thinking long and hard about enrolling yourself or your child in a class at this institution. The opinions that follow were gathered from talking personally with many employees and parents of the Mike Risko Music School, as well as to the Riskos themselves.

Mike Risko and his wife Miriam are often lauded for their brilliance in business. Evidence of this can be seen in Consumer Reports and various Westchester magazines. Across Westchester, the Riskos are the much-loved musical power couple. So what's the problem?

Their love for business far exceeds their love for their students, teachers, and community, and most importantly, quality of teaching. Though the Riskos are certainly adept at earning an income and investing wisely, their school is subpar and embarrassingly nontransparent (though the two show their faces at enough charity events to stop people from supposing otherwise). I invite any potential customer to confirm all the things I'll say by visiting the store, and to not just take my word for it.

--At the Mike Risko Music School, teachers are often asked to teach instruments that they do not know how to play. For example, I watched a violin teacher get asked to teach cello. When the teacher said they couldn't teach cello, Mike said "Oh, come on. It's the same thing--just bigger!" No it isn't, and yet this person taught many cello lessons. Another violin teacher was teaching more piano than anything else, and this teacher only had taken 2 years of piano in elementary school, almost 20 years ago. Would you want your child to take piano or cello lessons from a violinist?

--Mike Risko does not respect his teachers. He doesn't give them their start time until the night before they come in (often as late as midnight), and sometimes not until the morning of. Schedules are often not ready until midway through the teaching day, so your teacher never knows when they're leaving until the teaching day is well started.

--Teachers have to hope that Mike gives you as many students as possible, because teachers get paid $18/hr (as of summer 2015)--a fairly low rate, but when you consider that one's schedule may be full of gaps for which the teachers are not getting paid, the pay rate drops to an embarrassing level. For example, 30 minutes teaching/30 minutes off for 6 hours equates to 3 hours of pay. This happens frequently, and teachers don't know until they've already commuted there (and for some commuting from NYC, the commute can be 2 hours or more)! Mike reasons that because he is doing all the scheduling, this rate is completely fair. Keep in mind that the customers pay around $40 for a half hour lesson, and $70 for a full hour (these are the numbers I gathered from talking to students--feel free to call the school and ask for rates yourself).

--Teachers are not allowed to tell you when your child is being disrespectful or rude. To tell you that your child is not listening or following directions would jeopardize what the school cares about most--butts in seats. The problem, of course, is that your child won't learn anything if they are not listening, and many a lesson has been spent sitting there merely trying to coerce a difficult child into cooperating. Typical teacher responses to parents include: "It went great. We worked on some scales." Teachers are told by the Riskos to find Mike, not the parent, if something goes wrong. Usually this calms the child down, but they still don't learn anything.

--Teachers and students are not allowed to have personal contact with one another (e-mails, phone numbers, etc.), and teachers are not allowed to tell your child (or you) when they are performing!! Adult students aren't allowed to give adult teachers rides to the train! This is a big one. Making progress on your instrument depends so much on watching others (particularly your teachers!) perform. Learning by example is huge. Do you want lessons from a teacher that you can't have any contact with outside of the school? (By the way, you'll never hear Mike explicitly state this rule, but the teachers know it well. If you're already enrolled, ask a teacher for their cell, or better yet, ask one of your teachers if they'd like a ride to the train. Watch Mike panic and say "I'LL DO IT." No contact allowed.)

--The instruments you will be renting are incredibly low quality, and you will pay a premium for them.

--Finally, and most importantly, there is an incredibly high teacher turnover rate. By my estimates, a few people got hired every couple of weeks, and many more left. Do yourself a favor if you're already enrolled in lessons--take a picture of all of the cubbies where the teachers keep their name-tags. In another month, take another picture and compare. How many of the teachers names are the same? High turnover is a sign of immense employee dissatisfaction, and if your teacher isn't happy, then how happy will your child be?

Carmel Hamlet Garage doors& Gate is a well established company Serving Carmel Hamlet, NY area

Mike Risko Music is a unique and innovative music school and store offering instruction on all instruments and voice in a wi...de range of musical styles. Students can also take classes which focus on developing musicianship and performance skills with amazing oppotunities to gain hands on experience at performances held many times througout the year. Many of the performances are held in the...

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