A Cappella Legend Runs Music Workshop
On Wednesday 10 September A Cappella legend Deke Sharon visited Years 4 – 6 students from the Buckley House choir to run a very special workshop.
Deke, who conducted a workshop with the Buckley House Choir, helped them to master his A Cappella arrangement of Pharrell Williams’ Happy, which they will sing at their Showcase Concert on Tuesday, 17 September.
Deke was full of praise for the students, who loved his upbeat style and sense of fun. Year 4 student Amelia said, “We got to learn lots of things, like making instrumental sounds with our voices. That was fun. He taught us to be really joyful when you sing. It’s inspired me to continue with my singing lessons.”
“The students are very intelligent and intuitive and very eager to learn,” Deke said. “These kids came out of their shell really quickly. They have a great music program.”
Deke insists that everyone can sing – they just need the time to practice and learn. He loves working with children as they have not yet fallen into the trap of thinking “I can’t sing”.
Deke urges children to take advantage of singing opportunities at school. He has been most impressed by the standard of A Cappella in Australia. He said the Pitch Perfect movies, for which he was a vocal producer, have probably contributed but people also simply love to sing – just look at the popularity of karaoke.
It was a wonderful experience for the choir inspiring them in many ways, Year 5 student Harrison explained, “He inspired me to do three things – to start acting a bit more, to start practising my singing a lot more and just to let loose and have fun.”
