Encore Music Academy moves to new, more spacious digs in Crystal Lake

Encore Music Academy moved to a new, more spacious location at 87 N. Williams St., in the heart of downtown Crystal Lake – and things could not have worked out better, its leaders said.

At the McHenry Avenue location, it had two studios in the basement and three upstairs and people had to walk through one studio to get to the other one, said Ann Tucker, co-executive director of the nonprofit music school.

The new space is 3,000 square feet, about 1,000 square feet larger than the McHenry Avenue spot. It has seven studios for private lessons and a wide-open space for performances, she said.

“There is not one inch we could not use for teaching or performing,” Tucker said. “The offices double as teaching studios. This has just been a perfect place, all on one floor.”

The large open space allows the academy to bring a piano out on a dolly for concerto competitions and evening recitals, Tucker said.

Another advantage was more parking. At the McHenry Avenue location, only 20 to 25 spaces were available and the parking lot was constantly full during the 4 to 9 p.m. private lesson hours, Tucker said.

“People can park at the train station. Parents can shop during lessons. There’s so many cute shops and coffee places,” Tucker said. “We’re so excited for joining downtown. … It’s just been a perfect place.”

Now with more than 250 students in private lessons, Tucker said they are pretty sure they are going to be needing second floor space and a full basement, both available in the same building.

COVID-19 and growth

The move to a third location and larger space follows the organization’s growth, as well as pivots during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In 2019, we were approached by two other really longstanding not-for-profit Crystal Lake organizations with a 40-year history and a 30- [to] 35-year history and they both wanted us to help them administer their programs,” Tucker said.

They were McHenry County Youth Orchestra and Voices in Harmony. In 2021, the youth orchestra officially became the EMA Youth Orchestra, she said.

“They came over, then that organization dissolved and brought quite a few private instruction students, and we doubled in size … to over 200 students,” Tucker said.

The organization incorporated in 2005 as Northwest Community Music Academy, then changed it to Encore Music Academy. It was founded by Tucker and Cynara Pierzina, who serve at co-executive directors

“Our mission has always been to provide exceptional music education and performance opportunities for all ages for our community,” Tucker said.

In 2006, they used space at the First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake. Then, in 2015, Encore moved to 800 McHenry Ave., Crystal Lake, where they had five studios for private lessons.

Right before the COVID-19 shutdown, they were talking to the landlord there about renting more space, Tucker said.

Then the pandemic hit, and they were glad not to have pursued more space, she said.

In addition to building a bigger presence online, the nonprofit relied on the church again, running all their orchestra rehearsals outside in the front and back parking lots, on the front lawn and in front of the church “with extension cords going everywhere,” Tucker said.

They bought light stands for students to see their music outside in the dark and recorded concerts at the beach at Crystal Lake, she said.

“We didn’t just give up. We did not wait until it was over. Our theme that year was ‘Resilience,’” Tucker said.

Former Player’s Bench location

The move to 87 N. Williams St. began with some outreach from building owner Joe Ornelas, who had Player’s Bench Music Store there for 40 years.

“If you lived in the area and you were in music, you bought something from the Player’s Bench,” Ornelas said.

His wife became ill and he sold the business, so it would continue as a music store, he said.

“When my wife got sick, I was frozen in place for a bit,” Ornelas said. “Then my wife passed away.”

When the pandemic hit, the new owners went out of business, Ornelas said.

“Many people approached me for that location,” Ornelas said. “I had people offering me guaranteed leases … for 10 years. … Maybe I could have gotten more rent for it, [but] I wanted it to be a music venue.”

Tucker said Ornelas approached them in the fall of 2020 because he wanted something musically oriented to continue in that space. He had already rejected offers for bookstores and restaurants.

Tucker said he urged them to think about moving there, and they talked throughout that fall and the following spring.

The space was attractive, located in a thriving area, just down the street from the Raue Center for the Arts at 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake and walking distance from the train where teachers come from other suburbs, Tucker said.

Finally, they said, “‘Let’s do it,’” Ornelas said.

After some remodeling, they signed the lease in June.

“We just chose the week of Thanksgiving to move in,” Tucker said. “It was the only week we would not be teaching. On Tuesday of that week, we packed up, and on Wednesday, we moved. Over that weekend, we tried to get everything organized and opened for business on Monday.”

Having this new location is exciting for Encore on another level, as they came through the pandemic with more students and more music opportunities. They set up their 200 private music students to take lessons virtually, and during the first summer of the pandemic, people took more private lessons because they were not traveling, Tucker said.

“In 2019-20, the biggest challenge was trying to bring together those longstanding organizations, the youth orchestra and the adult choir,” Tucker said. “Then March 2020 hit, and it was not the biggest challenge – [COVID-19] presented the biggest challenge, clear and present. We did not know if they would have survived that on their own. But … the three nonprofits came together, and it made us stronger to get through that.”

Information about Encore Music Academy is available online at encoremusicacademy.org or by calling 815-356-7464.