1. Deke Sharon was born on December 12,1967 and is an American singer, arranger, composer, director, producer, author, coach, pioneer, and teacher of a cappella music, and is one of the leaders and promoters of the contemporary a cappella community.
Deke Sharon has been referred to as "the father of contemporary a cappella" and "the godfather of a cappella".
Deke Sharon started singing in choir groups at age five, including the San Francisco Boys Chorus.
Deke Sharon attended Town School for Boys and San Francisco University High School, where he sang lead in the barbershop quartet his freshman year in "The Music Man," and kept it going all four years, learning to direct and arrange a cappella.
Deke Sharon helped involve several professional a cappella groups and singers with the film, including The Filharmonic, Penn Masala, and Pentatonix.
Deke Sharon returned to music-direct, arrange, and vocally produce for Pitch Perfect 3.
Deke Sharon had arranged for the film, The Social Network.
Deke Sharon served as Executive Music Producer on the Dutch Sing Off, Sing Off South Africa and Sing-Off China, including several guest appearances as a judge and performer.
Deke Sharon worked with Straight No Chaser on their first PBS special Live in New York.
Deke Sharon appeared in front of the camera for the first time on Lifetime's Pitch Slapped reality show, in which he coached after school high school a cappella group Stay Tuned from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, focusing both on their musicality and emotional delivery.
Deke Sharon was the third judge for the season one live finale.
Deke Sharon has performed with many musicians, including Ray Charles, Crosby, Stills and Nash, LL Cool J, Run DMC, The Temptations, and James Brown.
Deke Sharon was named "favorite arranger" in the 2010 A Cappella Community Awards and won "Best Professional Arrangement" in 2019.
Deke Sharon serves as the group's co-creator, music director, arranger, album producer and artistic producer integrating modern sounds and technology.
Deke Sharon Music Directed "Disney: The Castle" in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2023.
Deke Sharon has arranged and produced multiple albums and tracks for Atlantic Records' Straight No Chaser, including the certified gold "Christmas Cheers".
Deke Sharon is a frequent host and emcee at a cappella events, such as Silicon Valley's "Techapella", The National A Cappella Convention, The annual College Notes event in Walnut Creek CA, "Pacific Harmony" in New Zealand, AKA A Cappella in Singapore, and the Maui Barbershop Festival.
Deke Sharon formed the Contemporary A Cappella League, a new national network of adult "post-collegiate" a cappella groups.
Biographical Information about Deke Sharon can be found in Mickey Rapkin's Pitch Perfect, Rick Smolan's 24 Hours in Cyberspace, Joshua Duchan's Powerful Voices, Alysia Abbott's Fairyland Darren Pleasance's "True North" and Carsten Gerlitz's Popchor.
Deke Sharon started working with the production just after their off-Broadway run five years earlier.
Deke Sharon has worked on a cappella musical theatre projects including "Street" and "Our World".
Deke Sharon arranged the opening number for Andrew Lloyd Webber's new greatest hits musical "Unmasked", a fast-paced mashup of 17 of his greatest hits.
Deke Sharon co-founded and directs Camp Acappella for teens and adults each summer at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and teaches the music production class Soup To Nuts periodically.
Deke Sharon has received two lifetime achievement awards for his work in a cappella: in 2016 for the 25th anniversary of his founding of thee Contemporary A Cappella Society and in 2018, from the A Cappella Music Awards.
Deke Sharon has worked with many professional pop vocal groups, including 98 Degrees, The Nylons and Boyz II Men.
Deke Sharon served on the CASA board for almost twenty years, often as President or Vice President.
Deke Sharon has been featured repeatedly in Kiplinger's Personal Finance for socially responsible investing.