Past Performances

My daughter has been taking lessons with Dr. Ali for the past 10 years in New York and online. She has won several awards, got a full scholarship to her university, and still enjoying studying, composing, and performing under Dr. Ali's mentorship. Dr. Ali goes out of her way to make sure her students are having the greatest time while building all the needed skills to make them such unique performers. I have witnessed many success stories and I cannot express how grateful we are for Dr. Ali. San Jose is lucky to have her as an artist and educator in residence.Jackie Lee - Amy's mother

Dr. Ali is AMAZING! Both my kids were constantly getting high distinctions and the best feedback for their RCM and ABRSM assessments. She held tri-annual recitals for all of her students. She keeps her students fully engaged and excited to perform in recitals and competitions. It was tough for us to see her move away. My kids miss her very much, but we kept checking her impressive work in Lebanon, and we are happy that she is back in the States. The Bay Area and San Jose community are very lucky to have Dr. Ali!Nicole Hutchinson - Sarah and Adam's mother

Dr. Ali is the best educator I have ever worked with. Just wait until you meet her. She will change the way you view music and life for the better.Teagan Schneider, M.D.

We love Dr. Ali. My kids studied with her in NY. She transformed them from early beginners to advanced Pianists in 3 years. Something I have seen other kids achieve in 8+ years. They were always excited for their lessons. I don't remember skipping once except for the short Christmas break. Most importantly Dr. Ali instilled love, passion, and appreciation for music in my kids. They are now in college and still play everyday and take occasional virtual lessons with Dr. Ali. I wish she was still in NY. We miss her so much!Michelle M. Young, PhD (she/her)

Seba is one of the most passionate teachers I have had. From her it is not only the piano skills I learned, but also how to be a good person. She would go out of her way to help her students, like when she took out extra time for me if I ever needed any, even when herself is living on an extremely busy schedule. Seba is absolutely a supreme performer, but she is also undoubtedly a supreme teacher. With her everything is so easy; she is really good at exploring people’s potential. With her I always felt like that I could go further and further. She knows the materials, and she knows what fits the student the best.
Seba is also a great mentor. She is willing to go beyond her duties as teacher and be there for you when you have to face negativity in your life, no matter what kind, and make you feel better. I am lucky to have Seba as a teacher, because she truly has such a good heart and caring personality.ZHENLING ZHANGStony Brook University. Bachelor in Music - Piano Performance

Dr. Ali is a gem in the San José community. Her expertise as a performer and teacher are unparalleled. She has the ability to teach young children, which I feel is something she absolutely loves! But, she also has the incredible ability to teach and coach the highest level of performer.

If you're looking for a teacher to help you or your children accomplish their musical goals - look no further than Dr. Ali. She is without a doubt the best piano teacher in San José right now.

Dr. Ray Furuta
Professor of Music: Santa Clara University & San José State University.Dr. Ray Furuta

It was a tough decision on choosing a piano teacher for my 4 year old daughter (Elaine) to start. Friend of mine introduced Seba Ali to me. During past four months, I found Seba is not only professional in Music, she is also the protagonist for young child to study from. Elaine loves Seba's teaching style and within 4 months her progress on playing piano amazed people around us. Seba has great patience and understanding for my daughter and also well prepared for each class. As a piano teacher, she earned my respect with her teaching philosophy on reaching out maximum potential from her students. I would highly recommend Seba to anyone I know because she is the best!Elaine’s Mother

Dr. Ali goes above, and beyond any mentor, I have ever seen. She helped me tremendously, not only in piano. She guided me to be a better listener. She taught me how to express myself better. I could be anything I want at the moment I want. Her approach is gold. She empowers all of her students. I wish I had started working with her years ago. I come out of her lessons a better human. Thank you, Dr. Ali.Kevin Apolinario

I have had the privilege of working with Seba during my undergrad years at Stony Brook University. One of the most memorable moments I have had was when Seba and I performed a four-hand piece for the end of the year concert during Christmas season. I remember sharing voluminous laughters with her during the practices. She is not only a wonderful piano instructor, but also a kind-hearted, open-minded human being with an infectious bubbly personality. Seba's sincere love for music and her students is demonstrated through her teaching. She often uses descriptive imagery to portray a certain character of a piece so that the students are able to understand and expand their creativity and artistry along with technicality. Mrs. Ali is a brilliant piano teacher, mentor, and friend who is near and dear to my heart.JINJU HONGStony Brook University. Bachelor in Music - Piano Performance

My partner and I study with Dr. Ali. She is a passionate mentor with high level of knowledge and commitment. She has a unique way of teaching. She is amazing!Michael H. Otto

I am a Phd student in computer science department at Stony Brook. I fell in love with piano quite late, a year back when I came across the Japanese pianist Joe Hisaishi. I wanted to learn piano but I had never played the instrument before and had to start off as a beginner. I was looking for a piano instructor, and through the music school at Stony Brook came to know about Seba. I found Seba, had an amazing love for her craft and she thoroughly enjoyed teaching. Her great quality as an instructor is she is very patient and at the same time quite creative in helping her students out. In my case, there were a few things I found difficult to learn. She suggested interesting techniques to help me out, while at the same time instilling the value of practise and patience in learning piano. She is also very well organized, ensuring that each session serves a purpose for the student. Her sessions were usually accompanied with interesting readings. She was always available if I needed extra time for practise sessions. She organized regular recitals for her students, and the recitals were a fun experience. Overall, my experience was of great learning and fun.ZAFAR QAZIStony Brook Univeristy - PHD in Computer Science

Seba is a passionate and loving teacher. Over the past 2 1/2 years, my daughters, Rubaiya and Afia, made great advances in their music. My older daughter wanted to start piano the summer before middle school. Seba was patient with her and I saw that within 5 months, Rubaiya had made incredible progress. My younger daughter, Afia, started off with little musical knowledge. Now she amazes me each time her fingers strike the keys. Seba always goes through music from diverse cultures and lets her pupil choose what is best for them. With her personality and knowledge, Seba made music fascinating for my daughters. She always takes the extra time to help create a better understanding, even though she runs on a tight schedule. Seba is a wonderful person. I would recommend her to anyone with an interest in music.Rubaiya and Afia' Mother

My chamber group and I were desperately looking for the perfect coach to work with us and prepare us for a performance (Brahms Piano Quintet). Dr. Ali was highly recommended to us by our friend, who is a professor at Stanford. We were very hesitant to work with a coach as we had the most fun working together and not stressing about having a coach. We had one coaching with Dr. Ali, and she enchanted us. She brought all these images and us on the same page in the most magical way. We never knew we could sound so good and still have the best time and fun with a coach. We are so grateful for how patient, professional, and phenomenal she is. Though I moved away, I still carry her methods and images until this day every time I play my Piano.Preeti Singh, MD

Seba gives me the support and encouragement to better myself as a pianist and as a person.JEAN-PIERRE DOMINGUEZStony Brook University. Minor in Music - Piano Performance

Dr. Ali goes above and beyond to help her students. She nurtures her young and adult students to a level where they become independent artists themselves. I have been there to film her studio recitals three times a year and at some of her piano classes. I could not believe how every student improved in a very short period.Olivia Kelly

Seba Ali is an immensely talented pianist and musician who happens to possess a natural gift for teaching. She has managed to impart her enthusiasm for music to my daughter and son. I was always impressed by her knowledge of piano repertoires, her high standards of performance, her insightful observations on the music and her many practical suggestions for tackling those extremely annoying, technically challenging passages. Best of all, she maintains a very high expectation of excellence while balancing the relationship with the student in a very caring and concerned way. It is a privilege to have her as my kids' teacher.Amy and Alex' Mother

Seba is a great piano teacher for young kids. I can feel that she brings her heartful passion for the piano to my son during the instruction . She is not only teaching my son how to play piano in the right posture and fingering , she also constantly explains how the music piece was created so my son can have the closer feeling that the composer tried to express. She is using every minute efficiently during the class to make sure that my son can learn more and play more. What is nice about her not only stays in the class, she does a lot after the class. She responses our questions fast. She picks videos of some very best piano performance for the student to watch at home. With thoughtful and detailed plans, as well as neat preparation together with the students in advance, she holds the concert twice a year in the beautiful piano exhibition hall for all her students to celebrate the music achievement together. We all love her and her teaching very much !Zekey's Mother

Dr. Ali is not only a professional pianist, humanitarian, director, and educator. She is a genius when it comes to teaching young students. The way she taught my daughter is mind-blowing. It was a tough decision to start piano lessons for my daughter, Scarlett. She started with Dr. Ali when she was six years old. We could not believe Scarlett kept asking to take more and more lessons. She wanted to have Piano lessons every day. She started with 45 min a week, and a year later, she was taking 90 min twice a week. Scarlett has finished all RCM and got her Diploma with high distinction. She won the concerto competition in 2020 and won 1st place at NYIPC last year. She can get a significant scholarship because of Dr. Ali. We are forever grateful for Dr. Ali's dedication and reaching out to all her students' maximum potential.Megan Lieu

Seba helped me a tremendous amount through her lessons. She is pointed out many bad habits that I had and helped me work through them patiently. But I also learned through Seba how to better express myself through music and how to show people exactly what I want to show them. Seba is a wonderful teacher!KEVIN KRAJEWSKIStony Brook University. Minor in Music - Piano Performance