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Aurélie "Aura" Veruni Morales is the founder and Artistic Director of Crescendo Music Studios, where she teaches performance class, choir, and piano.
She holds a B.F.A. in Music Performance from the Gnessin Academy in Moscow, where she received the Tchaikovsky Award for excellence in music performance, and both a Master of Music and a Certificate of Professional Studies in Opera Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is fluent in French, English, Russian, Spanish, and Italian.
Aura taught music and directed choirs at the Lycée Français de San Francisco for twelve years, and has run a private piano studio for the same period. A French soprano, she performs on stages across the United States and collaborates regularly with the baroque opera company Ars Minerva.
Ava Capiel is a San Francisco–based director, actor, and theatre educator with a B.A. in Directing from Pace University’s Sand's College of Performing Arts in New York City. While at Pace, she directed and devised We Men of Science for the NOW Festival, later selected for the 2026 Sibiu International Theatre Festival; assistant directed 9 to 5 at the Schimmel Center; and performed and devised new work at other venues, including The Tank.
Most recently, Ava served as Theater Arts Teacher at Adda Clevenger School, where she managed a TK–8th grade theatre program and taught musical theatre, acting, directing, playwriting, devising, and stagecraft. Her directing credits there include Shrek Jr., 13 Jr., Elf Jr., Murder in the Air, Night of Original Work, and 10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse.
Emma Westerfield is a flutist and pianist based in San Francisco. She graduated from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University with a Bachelor's in flute performance, studying with Thomas Robertello, and is currently pursuing her Master's at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under Yubeen Kim.
Emma has appeared at the Eastern Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Chautauqua Institution, and took first place in the Pellerite Scholarship Competition at the Jacobs School of Music in 2023. As a chamber musician she has competed in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and she has collaborated with musicians including Jeff Scott of Imani Winds — performing his Grammy Award–winning *Passion for Bach and Coltrane* — and cellist Mike Block. She has played in masterclasses with Jasmine Choi, Demarre McGill, Marianne Gedigian, and Leone Buyse.
Her orchestral work has taken her to concert halls across Europe, including the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche in Berlin, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and the Musikverein in Vienna.
Nhi Do is a Vietnamese classical pianist, vocalist, songwriter, and educator from Ho Chi Minh City. She is based in San Francisco, where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the mentorship of Professor Corey McVicar. Her work moves between classical performance, jazz, and original songwriting.
Nhi began teaching in 2014, after completing the ABRSM Diploma in Piano Performance. With more than twelve years of teaching experience, she has taught at leading private music schools in Vietnam and the San Francisco Bay Area, working with students of all ages and levels. She believes great teaching goes beyond technique — it inspires curiosity, confidence, and a lifelong love of music.
5Her first album as a vocalist, That's All, opened a new phase in her artistic life, bringing her classical training together with her love of jazz. She has performed at jazz venues and performing arts centers in Vietnam and California, including Bình Minh Jazz Club, BOSSA Jazz Spot, and Coi Saigon in Vietnam, and Bird & Beckett in San Francisco and Sound Dhaba in Los Angeles.
Yejoon Kwon is a 19-year-old violinist currently pursuing her Bachelor of Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studies with Wonhee Bae. She previously studied at the Colburn Music Academy with Henry Gronnier. She has received top prizes in competitions including the Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition, the Charleston International Music Competition, and the Korea International Music Educators Association Solo & Ensemble Festival. As a teacher, she enjoys helping students discover a love for music while tailoring her approach to each individual's learning style, making lessons engaging, encouraging, and rewarding.
Amy He is a violinist with a Bachelor's in Music and Applied Mathematics from UC Berkeley. She is well-versed in both soloistic and ensemble playing, and is an experienced teacher and chamber music coach for young students.
Amy has served as a violinist in the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and as concertmaster of the UC Berkeley Philharmonia Orchestra. She performs frequently in string quartets, piano trios, and other chamber groups around the Bay Area.
Through teaching, Amy hopes to equip students with the tools to become outstanding violinists, with a stronger dedication to and appreciation for music.
Ali Ziyad is a cellist, composer, and educator living in the Bay Area by way of Northern Colorado. He completed his undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley where he studied classical cello, jazz, and free improvisation with Leighton Fong, Ben Davis, and Ben Goldberg. As a performer, he is a member of the free improvisational group Trio Z and bass-forward "post-baroque" duo Bass-10. His playing has been featured on recent studio recordings by Bay Area indie staple Swell Foop as well as bassist and composer Gianna Caudillo. He is committed to the belief that all students can have meaningful experiences on the cello. As such, he is dedicated to helping students balance fluency and comfort on the instrument with a rigorous yet fluid attitude towards technique.
Ali Ziyad is a cellist, composer, and educator based in the Bay Area, with a degree from UC Berkeley in classical cello, jazz, and free improvisation. He believes every student can have a meaningful experience on the cello.
Daniel Aviña comes from a lineage of teachers that goes back to his own studies in classical guitar, which he began at the age of twelve and continued through college at the University of Redlands under Stuart Green.
His love of performing drew him to explore other styles and avenues of guitar playing, including blues, rock, jazz, and bluegrass. He is currently a performing and recording guitarist for an alternative country rock band, and continues a mentorship under Robb Cappelletto, who mentors guitarists such as Billy Strings.
Daniel is constantly looking for ways to add to his musical vocabulary, and welcomes you to start exploring your own musical dialect in the rich and vast world of guitar playing.
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Tri Pham is a Vietnamese jazz guitarist, composer, and educator originally from Saigon, Vietnam, and currently based in San Francisco, California. Growing up in Vietnam, Tri’s earliest musical influences came from Vietnamese folk music, traditional lullabies, and popular songs. As a teenager, he became fascinated by rock, fusion, and progressive music, drawing inspiration from artists such as Casiopea, Radiohead, Supertramp, and Toto.
In his early twenties, he discovered jazz through the recordings of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane, while also developing a deep appreciation for Brazilian music through the works of Antônio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto.
Tri is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in Roots, Jazz, and American Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studies with Randy Vincent and Anthony Wilson. He has also studied with respected jazz educators including Mimi Fox, David Becker, and David Valdez, and has participated in masterclasses with renowned artists such as John Scofield, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Gilad Hekselman.
Throughout his career, Tri has shared the stage with acclaimed artists including Jeff Denson, Gerald Cleaver, Erik Jekabson, David Sánchez, Matt Brewer, Warren Wolf, Edward Simon, Vince Lateano, and David Schroeder. He has also performed with major orchestras in the United States, including the Oakland Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony.
His performance credits include major events such as the San Francisco Jazz Festival (2025) and the International Jazz Day Festival (2024). He has appeared at renowned venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including SFJAZZ, Paramount Theatre, Black Cat Jazz Supper Club, Bird & Beckett, and The Dawn Club, as well as notable jazz venues in Vietnam such as Binh Minh Jazz Club, BOSSA Jazz Spot, and Coi Saigon.
In addition to his work as a performer, Tri is a dedicated educator with more than a decade of teaching experience. He has taught at leading private music schools in Vietnam and the San Francisco Bay Area and currently serves as a Jazz Theory and Musicianship Tutor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Through both in-person and online instruction, he works with students across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Asia, helping musicians of all ages and skill levels develop their musicianship, creativity, and artistic voice.
Aleigha Wymore is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer who grew up training across ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, modern, and tap. She danced competitively from the age of seven through eighteen, and now enjoys the work from the other side, as a teacher.
She attended the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program, completing two years of training in May 2025. As a LINES Ballet trainee she worked with world-renowned instructors including David Harvey, Gregory Dawson, Maurya Kerr, Brett Conway, Laura O'Malley, and Aleks Perez.
Aleigha brings a fresh and bright energy into the space, and loves inspiring the next generation of dancers.
Maddie Sager grew up in Missoula, Montana, where she trained extensively in ballet and contemporary dance at Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre. She also attended training programs at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Opus Ballet in Florence, and the Annarella Sanchez Conservatory of Dance in Leiria, Portugal.
In 2019 she relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area to study in the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA Program at Dominican University of California, graduating in 2023 with a BFA in dance and a minor in business administration. Maddie has since danced professionally for Bay Area companies and choreographers including Oceanica Ballet and Peninsula Ballet Theatre, and her choreography has been presented on both concert and competitive stages, winning multiple awards.
Alongside performing, Maddie has taught dance for all ages at studios across the Bay Area. She is a certified GYROTONIC® trainer and has completed a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training, both of which shape her philosophy and approach to teaching dance.
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Sila Poe is a dance instructor and choreographer working across the Bay Area, specializing in hip hop, pop, and open style choreography. Sila teaches at studios throughout the region and has taught in UC Berkeley's Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies.
As a choreographer and performer, Sila has appeared in showcases including Stuck Sanders' Hip Hop Nutcracker and the City Dance Studios showcases. In class the emphasis is on building confidence and helping students connect to the movement rather than only learning the steps — an approach that has made Sila a favorite among students across the Bay Area dance community.
Michael Short grew up in the Midwest and has lived in San Francisco for over a decade. Over the years, he has taught hip-hop to all ages, from kindergarteners to adults. Michael began his dance journey at Dance Mission Theater in 2018, when he took his first hip-hop class, and has been in love with dance ever since. In addition to dancing, Michael is a therapist in the Bay Area and teaches yoga in San Francisco.
Emma Westerfield is a flutist and pianist based in San Francisco. She graduated from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University with a Bachelor's in flute performance, studying with Thomas Robertello, and is currently pursuing her Master's at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under Yubeen Kim.
Emma has appeared at the Eastern Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Chautauqua Institution, and took first place in the Pellerite Scholarship Competition at the Jacobs School of Music in 2023. As a chamber musician she has competed in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and she has collaborated with musicians including Jeff Scott of Imani Winds — performing his Grammy Award–winning *Passion for Bach and Coltrane* — and cellist Mike Block. She has played in masterclasses with Jasmine Choi, Demarre McGill, Marianne Gedigian, and Leone Buyse.
Her orchestral work has taken her to concert halls across Europe, including the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche in Berlin, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and the Musikverein in Vienna.
Ona S. Archie is a cellist who began her musical studies through her elementary school's private instruction program. At U.C. Berkeley she chose to continue those studies, majoring in music with a concentration in jazz performance.
Her teaching experience includes offering free cello lessons through The Music Connection and leading play-and-learn classes for infants and toddlers. Ona loves seeing children experiment with sound and movement in ways that bring them joy. Being an educator has allowed her to appreciate how music can act as a vehicle for more confident play and socialization.
Maya Phelan is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and board-certified music therapist with a specialization in newborn intensive care (NICU-MT). She trained at Berklee College of Music and grew up in New England, where she performed as an acoustic indie folk and pop musician. She sings and plays guitar and ukulele.
Her work as a music therapist centers on growth, learning, and connection — meeting each person where they are and building from there. She brings that approach to Crescendo's infant and early childhood classes, where the emphasis is on babies and caregivers making music together rather than on formal instruction. Maya is committed to inclusive teaching and to making every family in the room feel welcome.
We hire for teaching, not résumés. Every educator here is chosen for how well they guide a student — patiently, clearly, and with genuine care.