Vocalosity
Biographie Vocalosity
Deke Sharon (Music Director, Arranger & Artistic Producer)
Born in San Francisco, California, Deke Sharon has been performing professionally since the age of 8 and as a child toured North America and shared the stage in operas with the likes of Pavarotti. Heralded as "the father of contemporary a cappella," he is responsible for the current sound of modern a cappella, having created the dense vocal-instrumental sound in college, subsequently spreading it around the world. Deke produces The Sing-Off worldwide (USA, Netherlands, China, South Africa), which had the highest ratings of any new, unscripted television show in the US in 2009, and was the third highest rated show on NBC in 2010.
Deke served as arranger, on-site music director and vocal producer for Universal's Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2 starring Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson. As the founder, director and arranger for the House Jacks, the original "Rock Band Without Instruments," Deke has shared the stage with countless music legends, including Ray Charles and James Brown. He is currently featured on Lifetime Television’s new show Pitch Slapped.
Deke founded the Contemporary A Cappella Society while in college and is responsible for founding many seminal a cappella programs, including the CARAs (Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards), ICCAs (International Championship of College A Cappella), and BOCA (Best of College A Cappella Compilation). He is also contemporary a cappella's most prolific arranger, having arranged over 2,000 songs, with many of them in print worldwide with Hal Leonard/Contemporary A Cappella Publishing. His first book, A Cappella Arranging was published in 2012, followed by A Cappella (2015) and his third book, The Heart of Vocal Harmony, will be published in 2016.
VOCALOSITY
is the all-new live concert event from the creative mind of artistic producer Deke Sharon (Pitch Perfect, The Sing-Off) that takes a cappella to a whole new level! This fast-paced production features 12 dynamic voices singing some of today’s chart-topping hits in brand-new arrangements too incredible to miss.
No genre of music is off limits in the world of a cappella and VOCALOSITY will explore them all – from tenth century Gregorian chant and classic choral, to barber shop quartet and bouncing doo-wop all the way to The Beatles and Bruno Mars. Combine that with movement and choreography from Sean Curran (Stomp original cast member) and you have an exhilarating evening of song unlike anything you’ve ever seen or heard, live on stage.
VOCALOSITY came together through the passion of music director and artistic producer Deke Sharon, and the producing team of Work Light Productions and IMG Artists. Deke, called the “father of contemporary a cappella,” has built a career in a cappella as a singer, arranger, director and producer. VOCALOSITY is the culmination of everything he has learned over the past 20 years in this genre.
VOCALOSITY will debut in January 2016 before embarking on a 30+ city national tour. Each city is invited to host an online video contest for local a cappella groups, with the winner being selected by Deke to perform as VOCALOSITY’s opening act in their city – a fantastic way to engage the local community and spread the joy of a cappella!
