Tessanne Chin Foundation surprises young singer with $500,000 scholarship

When Tessanne Chin surprised Sasha Gay Sutherland with a $500,000 scholarship for her Bachelor of Music in Performance degree on Saturday evening, the young woman was left utterly speechless.

The presentation occurred on stage right after Sutherland’s performance at the ‘Our Song’ showcase, part of Voice Box’s Summer Singing Intensive programme, held in the Campion College auditorium in St Andrew.

The scholarship is funded by the Tessanne Chin Foundation.

Voice Box is Tessanne’s creative development programme aimed at helping to develop the talents of children ages six to 18, while creating a space for them to explore possibilities through the creative arts.

The Summer Singing Intensive programme was held between August 7 and 24, allowing the youngsters to hone their talents under the guidance of Chin and other vocal coaches. Sutherland stood shoulders above the the 50 persons enrolled.

“I feel really, really, really grateful and it was not expected. I am truly grateful,” Sutherland told The Gleaner.

She explained that she chose to pursue a Bachelor of Music in Performance degree “because music is all I wanted to do ever since I was a small, small child, ever since I was singing in church since I was three”.

Sutherland, who participated in the programme last year, decided to audition again this year.

She said that from what she learnt this time around, she sees herself producing gospel music that will eventually take her around the world.

Sutherland, a Christian who attributes her musical development to years of singing at her Eastwood New Testament Church of God, told The Gleaner, “I’m looking forward to going all over the world and using my ministry to minister to people and spread the gospel of God.”

A recent graduate of Eltham High School in St Catherine, the parish in which she also resides, she is now looking forward to starting her degree in the upcoming academic year at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.

She had initially planned to ask relatives to supplement the money she earned from a summer job to fund her studies, so getting the scholarship brought her much relief.

Chin said the scholarship is just one way she can give back to the society that built her career.

“Sasha is a gifted, gifted student, and we believe in her so much, and we are very proud to be presenting our very first scholarship to her tonight to be able to go to Edna Manley. We’re so happy to be able to do that for her. She is so deserving. ... She is such as hard worker, so humble. She’s everything that you look for in not just a student, but somebody that you know is just going to do great things,” Tessanne Chin told The Gleaner.

The recording artiste added noted many parents cannot afford voice lessons to assist their children in developing their talent, and for this reason, she returned with Voice Box’s Summer Singing Intensive programme for a second year.

“That is why we want to do it for free – to encourage more children to come out and have a chance. This is our second year of doing our Summer Singing Intensive. We auditioned about 100 kids. We worked with some incredible talent. These children are amazing. They’re unlike anything we’ve ever seen. They’re just on a different level, and we had some of the best teachers in the industry,” Chin told The Gleaner.

She said the idea for Voice Box sparked from a request from to help her daughter get ready for an audition.

“I remember doing that and thinking, ‘I like this. I like working with kids’, and I was also at the time, taking an interest in not just voice, but how it works ... so it turned from one kid to six kids and then we had a recital in 2021 at Christmas and it kept growing and growing,” she said.

In summer 2023, Voice Box’s Summer Singing Intensive trained some 30 children.

This year’s staging was sponsored by Scotiabank, Wisynco, Digicel Foundation, Sagicor, the Tourism Enhancement Fund, GraceKennedy, and Tastee.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com