By Roger Bates '67

Nassoons, meet Deke Sharon…the driving force behind the surging popularity of a cappella singing around the world. Heralded as “the father of contemporary a cappella” by Entertainment Weekly, Deke has his fingers in many pies, including performing, coaching, arranging, music directing movies, producing and music directing television shows, coaching and directing professional groups, producing record albums, organizing tours and events, and publishing books and arrangements, all while teaching and promoting a cappella worldwide.
Born in San Francisco, California, Deke has performed professionally since the age of 8, and as a child toured North America and shared the stage in operas with the likes of Pavarotti. He writes, “I was a kid who had some talent and applied himself. I joined the San Francisco Boys Chorus, languished in the training group for a while, then moved to the intermediate group, got myself promoted in a month, and found myself the youngest member ever of the SFBC.”
Deke attended San Francisco University High School where he sang a lead role in the barbershop quartet in "The Music Man" his freshman year, and he continued to sing with and direct the quartet all through high school. He then spent his college years in Boston where he earned dual degrees from Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music (with a focus on vocal jazz and music theory). In college, he directed the collegiate a cappella group, the Tufts Beelzebubs, transforming the group's sound to reflect modern rock, with intricate instrumental vocalizations and the integration of vocal percussion. The 1990–1991 Beelzebubs album, Foster Street, that he directed musically, is credited with the creation of contemporary a cappella sound.
Deke writes, “I loved a cappella growing up, especially in high school, and collected albums. Then the Bubs came to my high school in San Francisco and I went bonkers. They were a big reason I went to Tufts, and yet I had to audition three times, but not because I wasn’t talented. (I’d argue I was more experienced than anyone in the group as I’d directed and arranged for my own quartet for four years in high school). They didn’t take me at first because I was, in their words, ‘overzealous.’”
While at college, he pioneered the vocal-instrumental sound that we today take for granted as the sound of contemporary a cappella and subsequently helped spread it around the world. Deke explains, “The inspiration came simply from wanting to do all the cool songs you couldn’t do a cappella: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, etc. I experimented with instrumental sounds and textures, including vocal percussion, expanding our repertoire and of course attempting to impress the ladies—collegiate a cappella being, at its core, a giant mating ritual.”
It was during his time at Tufts that Deke decided to make a career of contemporary a cappella. Upon graduation in 1991, he moved back to San Francisco, bringing with him a handful of other collegiate a cappella singers to form The House Jacks, a pioneering a cappella group known for its original music and sound. They were often called "the original rock band without instruments", in part because they were the first a cappella group with a designated vocal percussionist. Deke says, “The House Jacks were born of my desire to sing and spread this new style of music.” The House Jacks have eight albums, and dozens of international tours to their credit, including multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall.
Deke founded the Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA) while in college. He writes, “I met so many great friends on Bubs road trips that I decided to start a newsletter —the ‘Collegiate A Cappella News’—which expanded to embrace pro groups and fans after only a couple of issues. Then upon graduation I created the non-profit society when I returned home to San Francisco.” Deke served on the CASA board for almost twenty years, often as President or Vice President.
In his college dorm, Deke also founded Ultimate A Cappella Arranging. Today, he is contemporary cappella’s most prolific arranger, having arranged over 2,000 songs [!], with many of them in print worldwide.. He is also the author of five books about a cappella singing, arranging and performing.
Deke has arranged and produced multiple albums and tracks for Straight No Chaser, including the certified gold "Christmas Cheers". He frequently tours the world teaching a variety of topics to students and professional singers. While he has worked with many top professional vocal groups, for 30 years Deke has continued to help new amateur groups get started—by providing free advice, support and arrangements. He is one of only 20 honorary members of the Barbershop Harmony Society since 1938, and received CASA’s lifetime achievement award in 2016.
Deke has also helped popularize a cappella in the mainstream. He produced five seasons of The Sing Off for NBC in the US (as well as international versions in several other countries) and was arranger, on-site music director and vocal producer for all three of the hit films in Universal’s Pitch Perfect franchise. The Pitch Perfect soundtrack earned several awards, including the American Music Award for best soundtrack. He also co-produced and arranged all the music for the pioneering, first all-a cappella musical on Broadway, In Transit, which opened in December 2016. His work to popularize and promote a cappella worldwide is now being recognized by major media. NPR’s Here and Now concluded, “A cappella is more popular than ever, thanks to this guy."
Deke reflected on his experience singing with and directing the Bubs at Tufts: “There’s no question, collegiate a cappella was my launching pad. I went to Beelzebubs University more than Tufts University and the New England Conservatory. [A thought so many ‘Soons have expressed about the Nassoons and their Princeton experience. Ed.] It’s the perfect microcosm of music, business, self-reliance, peer-governance, and so many of the other elements central to success later in life. In fact, much of my work to expand the number of groups has happened: from around 200 in 1990 to over 3,000 today. That’s a lot more people who are having the wonderful, life-changing experience we all had in college.”
He concludes, “I would say that my life's work has been to get more people singing, because music can build a better community, and our country needs to understand the importance of working together. My motto would best be summarized as ‘harmony through harmony.’”
(Amen, brother. Thanks so much, Deke, for all you have done for a cappella singing and for sharing your story here in Nassoon Notes.)
In the spirit of 6 degrees of separation (or Kevin Bacon), the Nassoons sang a Jamboree with the Beelzebubs at Wells College in spring 1988, if my memory serves me correctly. I just listened to their "Foster Road" album and it brought me back to their set, which had more contemporary songs (e.g., U Can't Touch This, Rio). I don't think they tried Comfortably Numb. I imagine that we were an influence on Deke with our versions of Please and the Nassoon Rap. It is kind of like Leibniz and Newton; who really was first with the new sound. Seems Fairly Clear to me.