MARINO ONISSI

Testimonials

• Dear Marino, What a fantastic 7 years April has had learning and playing the saxophone at STAHS. We cannot thank you enough for all the help, support & encouragement that you have given her. I know that she loved her lessons, all the opportunities she has had, the amazing progress she has made (we’re so proud that she got the Grade 8) and of course the banter with you! Thank you for believing in her, supporting her, helping her encouraging & guiding her she’ll definitely be seeing you again when she is home from university, she’ll be keen to catch-up with some saxophone. Kind Regards

   

  Diane Houten, August 2024

• Dear Marino, I wanted to say Thank You for giving Louisa such a love of playing and listening to the saxophone. She truly flourished under your tuition. Right from the early days of year 7, she has really enjoyed her lessons with you, while in more recent times she has happily stepped up to perform in all the bands you run. Thanks, in particular for guiding her through her Grade 8, she was thrilled to get a distinction. We’ve adored watching (& hearing) Louisa and all the other saxophonist perform, it has really enriched our home life, and we will miss it hugely. I know she will be taking her sax to university. So, this is a heartfelt Thank You.

   

  Anna Brown, July 2024

• Dear Mr Onissi, Thank you so much for everything over the past 7 years! I am so grateful to have had such a fun, enthusiastic teacher and i’m so proud of how far you have got me (maybe you’ll manage to convince me to take my ATCL Diploma one day!) I’ll really miss our lessons and all the bands, but I’m looking forward to carrying on playing at university.

   

  Emily F, July 2024

• Dear Mr Onissi, Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me over the past 7 years, it’s been an absolute pleasure to be your student! I loved being a part of the musical life at school, especially the Sax Band & the Swing Big Band. I will really miss our lessons and couldn’t have achieved Grade 8 Jazz Sax without you. Thank you for encouraging me to persevere with the sax and for being a generally incredible sax teacher.

   

  April H, July 2024

• Dear Marino, Thank you for the musical journey to Grade 8 and your hard work & dedication in motivating, teaching and guiding Stephanie to enjoy the saxophone. Your positivity, sense of fun and generous spirit has been appreciated by all of us. Your concerts have been immensely enjoyable and  achieve incredibly professional levels. You are a wonderful music teacher! Thank you so much.

  Sabrina Munday, March 2023

• Dear Marino, Thank you so much for helping me work towards and preparing me to take the Trinity ATCL Saxophone Performance Diploma exam, I’m over the moon that I passed with Distinction! Your dedication and commitment is unmatched and i couldn’t be more grateful. You’ve thoroughly helped me develop into a musician these past 6 years. When I stepped into your room, I never thought I would be where I am now and I couldn’t of done it without you. You’ve not only been an amazing teacher, but an amazing person during this period and I’m extremely lucky to have someone like you by my side all this time. You’ve inspired me to become the best musician I can be, i really appreciate all the time & effort you have given me especially over the last 5 months leading up to my ATCL Diploma. Thank you for everything Marino.

  Matthew Moran, December 2022

• Heartfelt thanks for all the time & effort you have put into Kirsten’s lessons and all the various band/groups she has played in over the years at school. Sax lessons & bands have regularly been the highlight of her week (particularly over Covid). We’re so please she achieved her Grade 8 Merit, but more importantly for us she’s continued to enjoy playing. She’ll definitely be taking her sax to university!

  Anneliese Holah, July 2021

• Dear Marino, We wanted to write and Thank You for all of your work with Maria, especially her achieving her grade 8 Jazz Saxophone with Distinction. You have been such an inspiration both to her and to us and seeing her success has made us super proud. It’s difficult to convey all your appreciation into words, Thank you.

  Diana Sandetskaya, March 2022

• Dear Mr Onissi, I can’t put into words how amazing it has been exploring jazz music this year and how grateful I am to be a part of the Jazz Big Band led by such a talented and inspiring musician. I’m looking forward to get back into it in the New Year!

   

  Komachi (year 10), December 2021

• Dear Mr Onissi, Thank you so much for being such an amazing teacher for the past 11 years. I have always absolutely loved your lessons. Thank you for being so accommodating even when it meant turning up at my house at 7am for lessons. I’m so trilled I achieved my Grade 8 Sax with Merit. Thank you so much again, I will really miss your lessons and endless optimism.

  Eliza Daunt, July 2021

• Marino Onissi was my first saxophone teacher and taught me for 7 years (2002-2009)  at school, both on an individual basis and also within a saxophone quartet which he led. During this time, I went from never having played a saxophone before to completing my Trinity College of Music Licentiate Diploma (LTCL), and a huge part of this was down to Marino’s excellent teaching.

  Marino is an inspiring, enthusiastic and dedicated teacher who goes above and beyond for his pupils. He is incredibly patient and understanding through the (often difficult) process of learning a new instrument. Learning saxophone with Marino is one of the most meaningful experiences of my life and I am thankful to him for providing me with fun and inspiring lessons for so many years.

  Marino is also involved in organising many other small ensembles including a saxophone quartet, which I was a member of for 7 years. He is an excellent band leader and his enthusiasm, sense of humour and passion for saxophone made our rehearsals some of my happiest memories of school.

  Marino has the ability to create a feeling of community amongst saxophone and wind players which is really special. Since I have left school, he has arranged regular saxophone quartet meet-ups for ex-students, during his own personal time. The fact that many of his ex-students continue to speak with him regularly and meet up for rehearsals years after we have left school is a testament to the impact Marino has had on all our lives.

  Thank you Marino for teaching me how to play the saxophone, for contributing to some of my favourite memories and for years of friendship after school.

  Dr Jessica Coffin, September 2020

• Dear Mr Onissi, Thank you so much for have the most fun these past 3 years. I have loved every every lesson and have really enjoyed being part of all your bands, especially the Jazz Big Band. You have honestly been the best teacher and I really wished I started lessons earlier! I will defiantly take my sax to university.

  Amelia Bennett, Sept 2019.

• Marino has taught my daughter Saxophone for 7 years, from year 7 when she started as a complete beginner to the end of year 13 when she passed Grade 8.  Not only is Marino an excellent dedicated teacher who ensures his pupils achieve great results but he also makes the lessons fun, builds confidence and instills a love of playing and performing on the instrument both individually and in groups.  I have three children and over the years we have experienced many music teachers – most were fine but a couple really stand out from the rest as truly inspiring, nurturing musicians who really make a difference and Marino is certainly one of these.

  Caroline Houlihan-Burne, June 2019

• If you are looking for a dedicated, enthusiastic and passionate wind teacher who consistently puts their students’ needs above all else, then don’t look any further than Marino. I began saxophone lessons with him as a teenager, and there really couldn’t have been a better person to guide me through the challenging but immensely enjoyable process of learning an instrument. When things got difficult, Marino’s constant encouragement and sense of humour always got me through smiling and eager to succeed (sounds cliché but it’s true). Moreover, the additional bands and ensembles he puts so much time and energy into gave me some of the best musical experiences of my life and really helped push me as a player. Thanks Marino; as a music teacher myself now I can only ever hope to be as motivational and inspiring as you. You are a legend!

  Jessica Onacko, May 2019

• Mr Onissi has been teaching my daughter saxophone for the last 6 and a half years. He found out early on that she was interested in jazz and has worked hard to take her through the Trinity College London grades for Jazz Saxophone, incorporating improvisation and creativity, which she enjoyed very much. We have been delighted to come and see her perform solo recitals at school and also to be an active member of the bands at school.  She will leave school with a lifelong ability to play the alto and tenor saxophones and hopes to join Big Bands when at university.  He is a positive role model for young people and has been a highly regarded teacher in my daughter’s school career.  Thank you Mr Onissi.

  Sian Hingston, January 2019

• I was 8 years old, when I first started learning the flute. Mr Marino motivated me immensely, he’s the reason I still play the flute and I’m still passionate about music 10 years later. He helped me learn the basics of the flute getting me amazing results for all of my grades, including a Merit at Grade 8! His ways of teaching music inspired me to take music more seriously which led me to choose Music as one of my A Level options. He helped me with all the Theory and the Practical elements of the A-Level…I passed with B grade, which was an amazing result considering I did not take GCSE Music. He is truly the best music teacher and is fully committed to getting you the best grades you can possibly get.

  Elena Symeou, January 2019

• I cannot thank Marino enough for his tireless support and encouragement throughout the 7 years he taught me the flute. He has helped me develop as a flautist and attain my grade 8 which is one of my proudest achievements. Without Marino, I would never have reached my current ability. He has shared his knowledge and passion for music with me and I hope it will last me a lifetime.

  Ruth Nugent, January 2019

• Marino is the epitome of dedicated. Over the past 12 years he has guided me through ABRSM grades on the Alto Saxophone and two Trinity ATCL Level 4 Performance diplomas on both Saxophone and Flute. With the latter sometimes being carried out remotely via Skype when I was away at university. I was also very privileged to be a member of a Sax Band directed by Marino, which contains some of my fondest memories of my time at school. To this day I cannot believe the high level of standard we performed to, and have been unable to find a band that matches the sense of camaraderie and skill we had.

  Louise Beaty, December 2018

• My son Matthew has been taking saxophone lessons for 2 years now and has excelled beyond my wildest dreams, achieving distinction at Grade 5 Jazz Sax at the age of 12! Marino is a professional, passionate and patient music teacher. His commitment and enthusiasm is clear from the outset, engaging and encouraging his students, I have been very impressed and highly recommend him.

  Karen Moran, November 2018

• Marino is such a professional, passionate and enthusiastic music teacher who has shown 100% dedication to both my sons’ progress with their saxophone playing and also with their GCSE and A level music at school. He is inspiring and engaging in his teaching methods and tailors lessons to individual needs. He has the perfect approach for my 2 teenage sons – making lessons encouraging, relaxed and fun but firm which ensures progress is made whilst still enjoying playing music. Both boys have passed all their saxophone exams with Marino and are now working towards their Grade 8. He has invested so much of his own time to ensure that they do well – I cannot express enough just how grateful I am to him for all the guidance and time he has given to us. My boys would not be where they are today with their music were it not for Marino pushing to get the best out of them. I would absolutely recommend Marino to anyone looking for a dedicated and supportive music teacher.

  Sarah Lemmon, November 2018

• Marino came to lead the band for our school production of The Wizard of Oz. The accompaniment was thoughtful and sensitive, and his manner with the children exceptional. Thank you!

  Patxi del Amo, Head of Music, TreeHouse School, October 2018

• Marino Onissi has taught both my daughter (flute and saxophone) and then my son (saxophone). He was an inspirational teacher and they always looked forward to their lessons with him. He gave them both a love of music which enabled them to enjoy school and university music-making. Marino always made lessons fun but this did not detract from their seriousness – one of my children attaining Grade 8, and the other a ATCL Trinity Diploma with distinction.

  Anna Kaposi, October 2018