He blended The Bellas to victory and gave the Treblemakers their tone - and last weekend the musical director behind the Pitch Perfect movies inspired singers from across the state to find their own perfect pitch at a three-day a capella workshop at The Armidale School.
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For the three films Deke Sharon coached various a capella groups as they compete for national glory by singing in harmony without instrumental accompaniment - but at TAS it was all about singers collaborating to create five pieces that were performed at a celebration concert that packed out the Hoskins Centre on September 15.
"When the request came from a teacher here at TAS for me to travel to Armidale while I was in Australia, I jumped at it. A capella existed before instruments and indeed before people even had language, so the renewed interest in this form of singing is just returning to history," he said.
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Several ensembles took up the opportunity to have a masterclass with the master arranger who said he was "incredibly impressed" by the talent of those attending, singling out TAS Year 10 student and soloist Hattie Oates, for a big future.
"She's a rock star - and then she's blasting out soul and Motown! She's got a lot of potential, that's for sure," he said.
According to Hattie, the workshop was a unique opportunity to learn from the best in the business.
"It was an amazing few days. Deke Sharon has had so much international experience in commercial music and to have someone of that calibre here in Armidale, working with such a large group, was just incredible," she said.
"I'm sure we all learnt a lot but the main thing was the way he got us singing as a group. He is so bubbly and outgoing, and that rubbed off on us all, creating an atmosphere where we felt really comfortable to just jump in and to make the most of it."