Timothy Sharp

Tim Sharp is Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the national professional association for choral conductors, educators, scholars, students, and choral music industry representatives in the United States. Sharp, an active choral conductor and researcher/writer, has varied his career with executive positions in both higher education and publishing and recording.

Dr. Sharp's research and writing focuses pedagogically in conducting and score analysis as evidenced by his publications Precision Conducting, Achieving Choral Blend and Balance, and Up Front! Becoming the Complete Choral Conductor. Published essays betray his eclectic interests in acoustics, architecture, creativity, and aesthetics. He is also published in the area of eighteenth and nineteenth century American music, with scholarly articles and books including The German Songbook in the Nineteenth Century, and popular histories including Memphis Music Before the Blues and Nashville Music Before Country. His most recent publication is a short history of the American Choral Directors Association (Arcadia 2009).

Tim has conducted university, church, community, and childrenís choirs, conducted ACDA and MENC all-state and honor choirs, and formed choirs in such unlikely settings as a federal penitentiary and a chamber of commerce meeting. His choirs have toured domestically and abroad, singing in some of the worldís premiere concert and acoustic settings including St. Markís Cathedral in Venice, Washington, D.C.ís National Cathedral, St. Paulís Cathedral in London, and New York's Carnegie Hall. He has recently been appointed Artistic Director/Conductor of the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus.

Sharp holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the School of Church Music of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He is a Clare Hall Life Fellow at Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK, has studied at the Aspen School of Music, the Harvard NEH Medieval Sacred Music Studies program, and received a Rotary Fellowship for study in Belgium. He came to ACDA from Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, where he was Dean of Fine Arts, conductor of the Rhodes Singers and MasterSingers Chorale, and held the Elizabeth G. Daughdrill Chair in the Fine Arts. Before his appointment at Rhodes, he was Director of Choral Activities at Belmont University, Nashville, TN, where he conducted the Belmont Chorale and Oratorio Chorus.

Dr. Sharp has served ACDA in many capacities, including membership on the Choral Journal Editorial Board, as editor for the Choral Journal standing column ìHallelujah!î; as member of the Research and Publications Committee; and as a state Repertoire and Standards chair and Interest Session and Reading Session presenter at ACDA Division and National Conventions. He represents ACDA on the Leadership Board of the International Federation for Choral Music.

Precision Conducting: Seven Disciplines for Excellence in Conducting

Analyzing the Score Internalizing the Score Marking the Score Planning the Rehearsal Rehearsing the Rehearsal Conducting the Score The Drama of Conducting The Meter/Tempo Function The Interpretive Function The Start/Entrance - Stop/Cutoff Function Researching the Score Conducting Checklist Single-Movement Chart Exercise Performer's Marking Sheet Recommendations for Meter/Tempo Exercise

This text is a unique find for the aspiring conductor -- a sequenced approach to the many musical and extra-musical conducting skills that doesn't find itself mired in a complex presentation. Revised to include additional step-by-step exercises and examples, it remains rooted in its "Seven Disciplines for Excellence in Conducting." Promoting the kind of focused, dedicated study that conducting requires, these seven disciplines -- analyzing, internalizing, researching, marking and conducting the score, and planning and rehearsing the rehearsal -- build on each other to continually reinforce earlier disciplines. Well suited for both self study and use in a conducting course or seminar, Precision Conducting is also an excellent resource for those looking to refresh an existing skill set.

Precision Conducting: Achieving Choral Blend and Balance

The Essential Choral Tone Achieving Balance Achieving Blend Interpretive Issues Glossary of Terms The Choral Singer's Guide to Good Vocal Production Audition and Evaluation Materials International Phonetic Alphabet Chart

"Sound" is the chemistry of musical sounds intended to culminate in the potential of not just sound, but beautiful sound; not just expression, but enhanced and beautiful expression. In the case of a choral ensemble, this sound ideal is the result of many important factors. Precision Conducting: Achieving Choral Blend and Balance presents a thorough yet practical discussion of these factors, which include determining the vocal classification and the physical placement of singers; techniques to achieve rhythmic precision, vowel unification and good intonation; and performance practice in each of the major historical periods. Each major focus area also includes short, targeted lists of Guiding Principles, Common Tendencies, and Problems and Suggested Solutions, along with tips for Problem Solving. A reproducible IPA Chart as well as Audition and Evaluation Materials are included, as is "The Choral Singer's Guide to Good Vocal Production," a handout for your choir members.

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