Michael Bullis and Bethany Chase Justin Knight

It seems early in the morning for full-throated singing, but vocalist Michael Bullis is powering his way through "Gethsemane," from the rock-opera Jesus Christ Superstar. He hits the syncopation hard ("I need to know/I need to know/My Lord"), feigns—only slightly—exhaustion during a pensive interlude, then builds toward the big finish, leaping an octave on the final note. It's a strong performance of a meaty piece of music.

But this is a lesson, and voice teacher Sharon Brown, whom Bullis calls his vocal guru, has her critique.

"You need to use a lot more falsetto and more impro-visation," advises Brown from behind the piano. "You need to be much more adventurous."

Life at Berklee College of Music has been plenty adventurous for the classically trained singer as he studies to become a music teacher. The same is true for Bethany Chase, a classical oboist and budding music therapist. But life has been a little easier for the two of them this year because of one more thing they share: the Nancy Brusger Memorial Scholarship.

Chase and Bullis are the first recipients of the endowed scholarship. The fund was established last year by Newbury Comics in the name of cofounder John Brusger's mother, who was a public school teacher for more than 20 years.

The scholarship offers support to an "outstanding" continuing student who has graduated from public school and is majoring in music education or music therapy. These stipulations reflect the desire of Brusger and Newbury Comics chief executive Michael Dreese to encourage future music educators and therapists, but also to stimulate financial support for students in the latter years of their Berklee educations.

"It's the single largest unmet need at Berklee," says Dreese, who is a Berklee trustee. "There are high-quality students who do not complete their education because of financial pressures. It's one of my goals to get more third-year scholarships."

With Bullis and Chase, the Brusger scholarship found its way to two students who have demonstrated a commitment to their own education and to careers using music to help others.

Chase and Bullis are both transfer students who came to Berklee for something they couldn't find anywhere else. "I love music, and I love children, but I didn't want to be a teacher," says Chase, a 20-year-old native of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. She had spent a semester at Rhode Island College and one at Boston University. Then, says Chase, "I stumbled onto the Berklee web page."

There she discovered music therapy. "I had never really heard of it. I spent a day reading articles on music therapy. It just sounded perfect for what I wanted to do."

Chase has turned out to be perfect for music therapy, as well. "Bethany is just a bright light," says Music Therapy Department Chair Suzanne Hanser. "She sparkles when she enters the room. People respond to her very naturally."

Through her music therapy practica, Chase has worked with multiply disabled children at the Kennedy Day School in Brighton and with elderly Alzheimer's patients at the Cheryl House nursing home in Jamaica Plain. She knew she'd take to the children—Chase also works with disadvantaged children in a Roxbury preschool as an AmeriCorps volunteer—but admits she was "very, very nervous" before starting her practicum with elderly women.

"These women didn't remember their married names, but they remembered the lyrics to all the songs they knew when they were young," says Chase. "I ended up falling in love with the whole group."

Bullis, 22, came to Berklee after exhausting the musical possibilities in his native South Dakota. "I grew up singing to the radio," says Bullis. He sang in his school choir, ultimately becoming the top high-school tenor in the state. But in his second year at South Dakota State University, he started looking for something more.

"I wanted more of a challenge," says Bullis. "I wanted diversity, to experience different styles of music."

He's certainly gotten that at Berklee. "I'm overwhelmed by the number of music students here and by the international diversity," says Bullis. "It's very intimidating, very humbling, and very exciting."

Bullis has continued to work on his classical vocal chops, including singing in his church choir, but has also learned contemporary harmony and has worked on his songwriting—aspects of his music for which he had never before received support. "It's important I have a place for my music," says Bullis. At his old school, he says, "That would be scoffed at."

And Music Education is where Bullis has set his professional sights, observing grade-school music classes, studying conducting, and learning to play band instruments.

"I would like to be a mentor," says Bullis. "I'd like to work with students, find out where they're at, help them understand where their talents are."

Both Bullis and Chase are paying their own way through Berklee and have received prior scholarship help. Bullis, whose wife is a student at the University of Massachusetts, works in the Office of Student Affairs and at Starbucks; Chase has her AmeriCorps job and "lots of student loans," she says. She's probably echoing Bullis's thoughts when she describes the Brusger scholarship as "a godsend."

"It's been crucial to my continuing education," says Bullis. "It's made a huge difference."