Betty Coale
Young Musician Scholarship
The Betty Coale Young Musician Scholarship grants financial awards to promising middle and high-school instrumentalists and singers. Recipients of this scholarship are featured during Christ Church Cathedral’s summer services.
We are deeply thankful for Harwell Coale’s generous donation in memory of his late wife and for their long-standing support of the music ministry at Christ Church Cathedral. Betty Coale was a cherished member of the Christ Church choir, and we are grateful that her memory lives on in the support of education and performance opportunities for Mobile-area music students.
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The Betty Coale Scholars 2025
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Emma S. Pooler
Emma is an incoming freshman at Navarre High School, with dual-enrollment at Pensacola State College. She has been studying and performing violin for nine years. She trains under Dr. Leonid Yavnoskiy, Professor and Director of Strings and Orchestra, Dr. Grier Williams, School of Music, University of West Florida (UWF), and Concertmaster, Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. Emma performs weekly as an intern with the First Baptist Church Pensacola Orchestra.
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Matthew V. Pooler
Matthew is a recent graduate of Navarre High School. He is an incoming freshman at Florida State University. He has been studying and performing Cello and Piano for 8 years. He will be pursuing a dual-degree in Performance Cello and Computer Science. He trained under Dr. Aleksandra Pereverzeva, Principal Cellist, Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, and Professor Blake Riley, Associate Professor and Director of Collaborative Piano, Dr. Grier Williams School of Music, University of West Florida. Matthew currently performs weekly as a cellist intern with the First Baptist Church of Pensacola Orchestra. He previously volunteered as pianist and cellist at First Baptist Church in Navarre, Florida.
Sofia C. Haines
Sophia is a recent graduate of Bayside Academy in Daphne, AL, is a two-time Carnegie Hall pianist. She is an award-winning conservation photographer who works with the South Alabama Land Trust, the Steve Irwin Zoo in Australia, and ReEarth in New Zealand to protect wild places and promote wildlife. When not interning with the Alabama Coastal Foundation, Sophia participates in several honor societies and leads the Bayside Academy varsity golf team as team captain. Sophia will attend the University of Tampa, where she will be majoring in marine sciences - biology on the pre-vet track and minoring in piano performance.
Olivia Varela
Olivia is a 16 year old soprano from Trinitas Christian School in Pensacola, FL. She has been studying piano for 11 years and voice for a year and a half. She has been accepted into the Association of Classical and Christian Schools National Honor Choir in 2024 (Atlanta) and 2025 (Dallas). She has had a solo in her high school spring concert the past two years. This summer she played the role of Sebastian in The Little Mermaid Jr. She has played varsity volleyball and softball the last two years.
Carter Hale, Jr.
Carter is an 8th grader at St. Paul’s who has performed in over 20 live musical theater performances, many playing lead roles. Carter recently played Pugsley in the Addams Family at Joe Jefferson Playhouse, Oliver in Oliver at Sunny Side Theater, and Ryan in High School Musical also with Sunny Side. He has been on Sunny Side’s national winning competition team where he has won 1st and 2nd place awards. He is honored to be able to perform and receive this scholarship once again. He also has been to Broadway Artists Alliance (BAA) in NYC and has taken voice lessons with Chris Nemec, director of music at Government Street Presbyterian Church. When Carter is not performing, he enjoys spending time with friends and family, creating digital content, and writing stage plays.
Jonah Waits
Jonah is a rising senior at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, who currently studies under Dr. Randall Sheets. Jonah assists Randy Bolden, music director and organist, at St. Dominic Catholic Church. When he is not playing organ, Jonah plays clarinet in the McGill-Toolen marching band and in their concert band. He has repeatedly been selected for the Alabama All State Band, and has also played oboe with the Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra. Jonah is very active in St. Dominic Parish, and plans to study organ performance and sacred music in college.
Kenai Weber
Kenai Webber is a 17-year-old homeschooler entering his senior year this fall. He began taking violin lessosn 14 years ago in the Suzuki program. He now studies with Enen Yu, a professor at the university of Mobile and co-concertmaster of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra. For the past several years he has played in the Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra as the concertmaster, and this past fall he performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto as a winning soloist of their concerto competition. His favorite events to play for are church services and weddings. Next fall, he hopes to go to college to study mechanical engineering, but it will always be his priority to continue playing the violin.
Grace Brack
Grace Brack is a senior at McGill Toolen Catholic High School, where she serves as Drum Major for the McT marching band. She has been playing trumpet for 8 years and is First Chair in her school’s concert band. She is also a member of the Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra. She plans on attending either Auburn University or University of Alabama in Birmingham to study music.
Noah Gilstrap
Noah Gilstrap is a gifted 16-year-old organist from Montgomery, Alabama, whose passion for sacred music and the organ’s powerful voice have made him an enthusiastic student; which makes it hard to believe Noah has only been studying piano and organ with Kelley Garrett for 2 years.
Noah’s talent, maturity, creativity, discipline, perseverance, and passion for the organ have taken him way beyond the level of his course work in a short amount of time. He often wants to play things at a higher level than in his course book, and has studied pieces such as Zadok the Priest (G.F. Handel), and Prelude in Classic Style (Gordon Young). Noah practices the organ and piano for hours and never gets tired of it. At home he often plays as a form of prayer and meditation where the music becomes deeply expressive and is a beautiful thing to witness. Noah may not have the breadth of repertoire that other students have, but his thirst to know more and play more is insatiable. See more.
2025 Scholarship Recipients
Grace Brack, trumpet
Olivia Varela, singer
Emma Pooler, violin
Matthew Pooler, cello
Kenai Weber, violin
Carter Hale, Jr., singer
Sofia C. Haines, piano
Noah Gilstrap, organ
Jonah Waits, organ (not in picture)​
2024 Scholarship Recipients
Jonah Waits, organ
Heaven Gray, soprano
Rhiannon Harris, soprano
​Zoe Nguyen, soprano
Matthew Pooler, cello
Carter Hale, Jr., singer
Anika Farid, soprano
Iriel Espinosa, clarinet
Lucia Espinosa, flute
Emma Pooler, violin
Sarah Beth Dudley, soprano​​​
Maurgen Byrne (not in photo)
2023 Scholarship Recipients
Carter Hale, Jr., singer
Ryan Perry, trumpet
Emma Pooler, violin
Matthew Pooler, cello and piano
Jere' Thomas, singer/cantor
Julia Wofford, clarinet
2022 Scholarship Recipients
Cameron Beckham, tenor
Olivia Szymanski, soprano
William Stanush, trumpet
Emma Pooler, violin
Matthew Pooler, cello
Julia Wofford, clarinet
Jeré Thomas, soprano