Every summer since 2009, the Cabaret and Performance Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford has had a youthful offshoot. Girls and boys ages 12 to 19 have been chosen via audition for the Junior Cabaret Fellows Program.

This upcoming weekend, though, is a particularly notable one for the Junior Cabaret Fellows Program: First, on Saturday, some of the fellows will perform at a benefit for the Waterford Country School at the Mohegan Sun. It's their first performance in the region outside of the O'Neill. And it follows on their performance of their show "Coven: The Music of Stevie Nicks & Fleetwood Mac" last fall at New York City's 54 Below, a cabaret and restaurant housed in Studio 54's basement.

Then, on Sunday, the junior fellows program will hold auditions at the O'Neill for the upcoming summer.

Jake Poulios, a 16-year-old from Colchester who has been an O'Neill junior fellow for the past three years, says, "I really hope people can come out and audition ... (The program) is two weeks of your life you will never forget."

Indeed, if you want to know the ins and outs of a program like this, the best thing to do is go to the source - those who have participated in it. So here's Katie Emery, who has been a junior cabaret fellow for the past four years. She talks about the diversity of material explored during the summer and about how much the participants stretch as artists and singers.

Beyond that, the youths see performances by renowned artists who are part of the O'Neill's Cabaret and Performance Conference, which runs at the same time, and get to sit in on the conference-wide feedback.

"We learned so much just being in that environment, surrounded by incredible artists 24 hours a day. It's such an amazing opportunity," says Emery. "... Being part of the O'Neill has definitely helped me to understand a lot of what goes into being a professional performer by being able to see these people work and ask them questions and hear their stories."

Emery, who grew up in Avon, is now a freshman studying musical theater at UCLA. (She and Poulios, by the way, both have local ties: Emery's grandparents, Robert and Eleanor Emery, live in Waterford, and her father, Robert, grew up there. Poulios' grandparents, Connie and Alice Poulios, also reside in Waterford, and his father, Mark, grew up there.)

Getting the opportunity to study cabaret at the O'Neill was, to borrow a phrase, a huge learning experience for Emery. She says there's something special about being able to be yourself onstage and express yourself through song, as you do in cabaret.

She recalls shaking with nerves when she sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" before an audience the first year. But the O'Neill provides a safe environment where artists can take risks.

"It's a place where you can learn and grow," Emery says.

Brad Simmons, who has directed the junior cabaret fellows program since its inception, sees that growth among the kids. Like Emery, most of them are angst-filled before their initial performances.

"It is quite beautiful to see the transformation. It really is," Simmons says. "It's special. They run up to me after: 'Brad, they loved it!'"

Before that, of course, he has to teach the kids the finer points of cabaret. He coaches them about, for instance, breaking the fourth wall and communicating with an audience.

One thing Simmons learned early on was that the music he originally had the kids studying was too old-fashioned. They weren't connecting with the pieces, so Simmons - who has worked as a music director on and off Broadway - switched it up. He tried more modern tunes for a session - Top 40 songs in particular.

"It was magical. It was my 'Glee' year," he says.

After that, he focused on certain songwriters/performers each season - so one year on The Beatles' music, then Stevie Wonder, and, in 2014, Stevie Nicks. (At the Waterford Country School benefit, they'll sing pieces from Nicks and the Beatles.) Coming up this summer: the catalog of Dolly Parton.

Some of the junior fellows have extensive performance backgrounds, like Poulios. His credits include being an understudy in Goodspeed Musicals' "Annie Get Your Gun" and being part of the workshop of "James and the Giant Peach" at Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre.

He had never done cabaret before, though. It is, he notes, not a common art form for teens.

What he realized at the O'Neill, Poulios says, is "it's such an incredible art form because it's so intimate. I like the fact that you don't have to play someone. You get to be yourself, singing other people's material."

The junior cabaret fellows experience also helped Poulios reevaluate his future plans. The high-school junior says he's now looking to double-major in college in music production and vocal performance.

"So I'm heading toward a more musical path rather than musical theater, which is definitely inspired by the O'Neill," he says. "The O'Neill helped me discover what I wanted to do because I just love the music, and I love being there performing."

Coming up: Waterford County School fundraiser

The Waterford Country School benefit begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the Mohegan Sun's Uncas Ballroom. Tickets are $65. The event includes live and silent auctions, in addition to the O'Neill Junior Cabaret Fellows performance. Call (860) 442-9454, ext. 105, for more information.

Junior Cabaret Fellows program tryouts

Auditions for the 2015 Junior Cabaret Fellows Program will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's Dina Merrill Theater in Waterford. They are by appointment only; to schedule one, email Andrew Zaccagnini at generalmanagement@theoneill.org.

This summer's show will feature the music of Dolly Parton. Students auditioning should prepare a song of their choice and a short Dolly Parton song or other country song. Students should bring music with them; an accompanist will be provided. Students who play instruments other than the piano (especially guitar, ukulele, banjo or fiddle) are encouraged to bring them, along with a short piece of their choice.

The Junior Cabaret Fellows will have two weeks of master classes and performance opportunities alongside the professional guest artists at the O'Neill's Cabaret & Performance Conference. (That conference is led by John McDaniel, the Grammy- and Emmy-winning conductor-pianist-composer-orchestra-record producer who might be most widely known as the band leader for the Rosie O'Donnell show.)

Students selected to participate must be available 9 a.m.-10 p.m. July 29-Aug. 8.

Thanks to donors, the junior fellows program is fully funded - so students get classes and meals for no cost.