Director of Music

photo by: Pierre-Etienne Bergeron

Dr. Thomas Pousont is the Organist and Director of Music Ministry at the First Church of Deerfield, a position he has held since 2003. He received his baccalaureate in organ and vocal performance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He was granted the degrees of Master and Doctor of Music in organ performance from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, working with John Grew, William Porter, and Hans-Ola Ericsson.

Performing regularly in the US, Canada and Europe, Dr. Pousont’s sensitivity to all styles of keyboard music makes him a much sought after recitalist and accompanist. In 2013 he was awarded a prestigious research grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst to study historic eighteenth-century organs in the Bach homeland of Thuringia and Saxony in Germany.

A committed and gifted teacher, Dr. Pousont currently teaches organ and voice at Deerfield Academy. Before returning to Deerfield, he was a course lecturer at McGill University, teaching theory, keyboard and musicianship. He was the College Organist at the Presbyterian College of Montreal from 2008-2013.

Here at the First Church of Deerfield, Dr. Pousont leads a diverse and sophisticated music program, directing multiple choirs and instrumentalists in the weekly performance of repertoire from the Middle Ages to the present day. This past fall he spearheaded the creation of the Deerfield Choral Scholars, a musical program which provides choral opportunities to young singers from area high schools.