For the past 14 months Glen Park residents have been abuzz about “the music school” at 683 Chenery Street, which in the past has been variously a butcher shop, a pizza joint, a fine dining American restaurant–not to mention the many years of vacancy in between those establishments in at least the recent past.
Crescendo Music Studios is having an Open House from 11am to 4pm on Labor Day, September 7 and classes will begin the next day, September 8. You can sign up for further information about class schedules here.
The force of nature behind this undertaking is Aurèlie Veruni Morales. Born in Paris she says, “I was very lucky to be born in a beautiful city—I miss it.” She is a music teacher, a piano teacher and an opera singer. She’s taught choir and piano at Lycée Français in San Francisco for the past 10 years.
She studied in Russia for five years, earning her bachelor’s degree in voice and piano. She didn’t know a word of Russian and had to learn the language and also Italian, because that is the traditional language of opera.
Aurèlie has been in the US for 15 years. During that time she has built her family: Husband Gabriel Morales, a partner in La Calce Studio, a decorative Italian plaster and finishes business; and three children—Jade, 7; Milan, 6; and Vaughn, 3-1/2.
Her two older children are already doing recital. They practice an hour each day. “You have to have an approach for every type of child” says Aurèlie. “The one that uses music as a hobby and the one that will go on to conservatory and have a professional future.”
The entire space at 683 has been remodeled to accommodate the classes and other activities that Aurèlie has planned. On the main floor is a large open studio called the ensemble room which will welcome early childhood music and movement classes in the morning. In the afternoon there will be modern jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, choir and performance classes. The weekends will see the space transformed into a concert venue. The two classrooms upstairs, one a medium-size room which will be for an ensemble class such as violin or chamber orchestra; and one smaller space for individual teaching such as piano, guitar, cello and violin. Drums will be the last offering due to the need for extra insulation. There are currently no plans to teach brass instruments.
There will be classes for all ages from infants as young as seven months (once babies can sit up on their own), toddlers, school age, to adults and seniors. “There’s been a lot of study around infant music class and the impact it has on the brain and cognitive development. I think it’s a good idea to expose children to music. Lots of families could benefit from that,” says Aurèlie.
For adults this fall, there are private lessons on any instrument with more classes to be added in the spring.
Dance classes will also be on offer encompassing hip-hop and contemporary in three age groups for children (ages 5-7, 8-10, 10-12) plus teen and adult classes.
There are plans for a recital in December and another one in June for the private instrument students.
Summer camp is planned for 2027.
The quiet stretch is from 1 to 3pm between the morning classes for the little ones and the afterschool rush. Aurèlie is looking into opening a senior choir for that window along with adult classes. “It’s like a jigsaw puzzle,” she says.
Her goal is to enroll 250 students. For that number she is going to need a lot of help! She’s lined up about 15 teachers so far, covering piano, guitar, violin, cello, flute, voice, early childhood, contemporary dance, modern jazz, hip-hop, choir, and musical theater. Most of them are working artists who will be teaching one afternoon a week.
The history of the building at 683 Chenery is rather interesting. It’s detailed in the Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project’s website. In 1908 Glen Park had three butcher shops; one of them was at 683 Chenery, Vogel Bros. Meat Co. Inc. The original structure was torn down in 1929 and replaced with a Spanish Colonial/Mediterranean Revival style building that existed until the current total remodel by Crescendo Music Studios.
In 1958, 683 was listed as vacant until the 1970’s when a laundromat opened, followed by Diamond Pizza in 1977. When the pizza restaurant closed in 2000 it was soon followed by Chenery Park Restaurant, which closed suddenly in 2014. The owners of Guss’s Market now own the building.
The building has been reincarnated by Aurèlie’s husband, Gabriel Morales. She describes the remodel this way:
“He designed the space, every beautiful thing you see there came out of his head: the storefront, the relief signage, the wood ceiling and its lamp, the sculpted wall inside conceived as a single large piece, the marmarino plaster and lime paint. And it goes all the way to the smallest details—the door handles, the switches and dimmers, the bathroom fixtures, every wall finish. Every bit of its beauty comes from his eye, he saw what the space could be.”
As she looks forward to the opening of Crescendo Music Studios, Aurèlie is wistful: Before she had children it was all opera all the time. And with children the spotlight shifted to music education. “I’m happy to have an opera a year and a couple of concerts. And now I want music education to take more of the lead in my life.”
(Thank you, Jane McDougle and Evelyn Rose.)