Congratulations to Jamontah Dupree, Julia Pearce, Cole Hickman, John Berardi, Tomas Bohan, and Ava & Lily Cruzan for receiving Jacob Titus Youth Music Scholarships!

About the winners:

Jamontah, age 15, hopes to be a professional musician one day. His interest in music began when he received his first drum set at the age of three. With his scholarship, Jamontah will attend Bold Music Summer Camp, where he is excited to continue developing his talent as a guitar player.

Julia, age 14, has been playing the trumpet for five years. "I think making music with others is a huge gift and that through music we elevate one another to transcend all the truly tough stuff in life," she says, "My trumpet is an extension of my voice and I want to make the world a better place through pursuing music." With her her scholarship, Julia will attend JazzArts Summer Music Camp, where she looks forward to furthering her experience in playing Jazz and growing her musical education as a trumpet player.

Cole, age 13, initially found his love of music one year ago through the soundtrack of a video game. He was drawn to the piano in the songs and eventually started researching music by classical composers. Wanting to take his interest in music a step further, he started taking lessons with Bold Music. With his scholarship, Cole will attend Bold Music Summer Camp, where he is excited to meet other kids who love music as much as he does.

John is a 9-year-old guitar enthusiast. He has participated in his church's children's choir for three years and this year he stepped out of his comfort zone to have a large role in the 3rd grade musical. Recently, John hosted a mini concert at the assisted living community where his mother is the chaplain. He led singalongs with the residents and the concert ended in "much applause and great joy. With his scholarship, John will be attending music therapy sessions that offer him musical education and help him better express himself.

Ava, age 12, received her first guitar from her uncle as a 6th birthday present, and has been taking lessons for the past year. Over that time, her guitar teacher said, she has had remarkable growth in her playing and understanding of music. "Ava is a quick learner and has the discipline to work on difficult chords and techniques until they become
performance level," he said. With her scholarship, Ava will be further developing her musical growth with the purchase of a new guitar to replace the beginner guitar she had been using previously.

Lily, age 10, loves to play music with her sister, Ava (above). Lily has been taking piano lessons this year and is currently preparing for her winter recital. "I could tell at our very first lesson together that she had remarkable potential as a pianist and musician," her piano teacher said, "Whenever I assign her a song from our lesson book, or section of a difficult piece we are working on, she has it mastered by our next lesson." With her scholarship, Lily will purchase a piano to replace the beginner keyboard she had been using previously.

Tomas has been passionate about music for as long as he can remember. Following violin lessons with Project Harmony, he joined his Middle School band. I play the violin and have been involved in a lot of music activities since then. Playing violin and learning piano on YouTube and the internet, Tomas hopes to pursue his musical goals with a professional teacher and reach new levels of achievement.

Thank you to Tamara Titus & Lane Jacobs for launching this youth music scholarship opportunity with Tosco Music in 2019, and to everyone who has added their own contributions to this special scholarship fund to honor the memory of Jacob Titus. Learn more about donating to, or applying for, the Jacob Titus Youth Music Scholarship here.

Tosco Music is a volunteer-powered nonprofit organization that has been building community through music in Charlotte for more than 30 years through Tosco Music Parties and music outreach throughout Charlotte. Since 2010, Tosco Music has provided dozens of scholarships for youth and adults to summer music camps through Arts+ (formerly Community School of the Arts) and The Swannanoa Gathering.