We are proud to announce that recent BKCM Alum Melodee Pouponneau has received a $10,000 “Angel Scholarship” from Sony Music Group recording artist Halle Bailey. The scholarship aims to support Melodee’s education and music career as she continues her studies at City College studying Psychology and Music. Congratulations, Melodee! Watch Halle Bailey announce the winners here!
Press Release
Columbia Records recording artist and star of the live-action Little Mermaid Halle Bailey announced that Brooklyn-based singer and Brooklyn Conservatory of Music alum Melodee Pouponneau will receive a $10,000 “Angel Scholarship” towards her college education.
Halle Bailey announced the news yesterday in this Instagram post, saying that the 2023 Angel Scholars are four young Black women in music who are charting their own pathways and sources of inspiration for everyone around them. The Angel Scholarship pays homage to Halle Bailey’s new single, “Angel,” that details her own experience as a Black woman in the public eye.
A resident of the Ditmas Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, 18-year-old Melodee Pouponneau is a second-year student at City College where she is studying both Psychology and Music. Her singing career began at age 4 and has continued throughout her life, singing in school and church choirs, leading the Gospel Chorus at Edward R. Murrow High School, and gigging at weddings and parties. Melodee spent eight years studying music at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, where she was mentored, learned piano, and sang with the premier teen vocal group Brooklyn Harmonics Teens. This scholarship is not the first time Melodee has been recognized for her singing—she won $1,500 from a talent show in 2022.
Notably, Melodee was back visiting Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, along with her mother and younger brother, when she received news of the scholarship on a surprise Zoom that had been arranged for her with Halle Bailey.
“I am so blown away to receive this news from someone as accomplished and versatile as Halle Bailey. I have been following her journey ever since she and her sister Chloe started singing on YouTube,” said Melodee. “Music is such an important part of my life, bridging communities together and touching people in so many ways. I am so proud to receive this news — it’s a memory that will forever be ingrained in my head and heart.”
“We first met Melodee when she was 6 years old coming to the Conservatory for piano lessons. We have watched her burgeon into a talented vocalist and artist, inspiring so many of us. We were so thrilled to have her back at BKCM to receive this special news from one of her biggest role models in the music industry,” said Chad Cooper, Executive Director of Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. “Through the artist engagement project, Halle Bailey and Sony Records are paving the way for up-and-coming talent to have the resources they need to pursue their education and their music careers.”
Help more students like Melodee get access to music education and music therapy by donating to BKCM.
Melodee reacting to the news.
About Brooklyn Conservatory of Music
The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music aims to transform lives and build community through the expressive, educational, and therapeutic powers of music. Our Park Slope home offers private music lessons, group classes, ensembles, and music therapy. Through our community engagement programs, we bring high-quality music education and music therapy to thousands of students and clients at public schools and community-based organizations across the city’s five boroughs. We strive to be a safe, affirming, and inclusive place for all people to come together and experience learning, joy, creativity, and healing through music.