DEERFIELD — People typically don’t go into music for the money.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy it when it comes knocking.
The First Church of Deerfield has started a scholarship opportunity designed to offer weekly performance and training in choral singing to high school students with a strong interest in music. Deerfield Choral Scholars is an initiative to give young people the chance to perfect their pitch with music director Thomas Pousant.
Interested students will audition for placement in the varsity (strong music readers) or junior varsity (undeveloped music readers) programs. The top 10 candidates will be awarded a music scholarship to help support their study of music via lessons, camps or other avenues. Students will be drawn from public and private high schools in the area.
“I’ve been the director of music at the church for more than 10 years now,” Pousant said. “We have a very successful music program there and I just wanted to figure out a way to reach out to the youth area. It’s been in the works for a number of years, to try to make this happen.
“We have had high school students join us in the past,” he added. “But it’s always a question of how to go about it in a more structured and committed way and how to … figure out a way to raise some funds to offer music scholarships as part of our programs.”
He said students accepted into the varsity program will perform a challenging repertoire with trained adult singers while improving their sight-reading and one-on-a-part singing. Students accepted into the JV program will develop their sight-reading skills and gain experience in preparation for advancement to the varsity chamber choir.
According to Pousant, JV Choral Scholars will benefit by singing with their more advanced varsity peers as well as trained adult singers. Both choirs are multigenerational, the music director said.
“It’s open to any high school student in the area. The church is very open,” Pousant said. “It’s a place where everyone is welcome regardless of their tradition or faith.”
The church held a pilot program in the fall and Deerfield Academy students Penelope Hough and Justin Hsu and Pousant’s son Dorian, a student at Northfield Mount Hermon, were named scholarship winners. They sing in the varsity chamber choir alongside Liz Dolby, who is also chairwoman of the church’s music committee. Dolby was reluctant to disclose the scholarship amounts, but said there are more fundraising efforts now to generate additional money for more students.
“They are great, wonderful kids who are so blown away by the music they have learned and how much they have learned already,” Dolby said. “The outpouring has already been amazing. People are really excited. … Where do you get a little bit of money for something you usually have to pay for?”
Dolby said the church will kick it up a notch and make a push for more membership. She said “we’re going to put a little carrot out there” and try to draw more students into the program.
Dolby is a member of the church’s choir and chamber choir and praised the work of Pousant, who recently earned his doctorate in music from McGill University in Montreal.
“He is amazing,” Dolby said. “He has taught me so much about music.”
Pousant said interested high school students should contact him at deerfieldchoralscholars@gmail.com for audition details. The Shelburne Falls native said auditions will be held at the church, likely on April 6.