Sharon Drury
Barton City, Michigan
Biography by: Robert Nordin
|
According
to Webster, the great American lexicographer, "music is the science or
art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination,
and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity
and continuity." That may be so, but for a special few, with
Sharon Drury among them, music is a reflection of the soul. A native
of Michigan, Sharon began her love affair with music when only
a small child. At just four years of age she began to pick out
tunes she heard on the radio on the family's Baby Grand Piano,
and with the encouragement of her mother, she studied tap and ballet
dancing as well.
While still a youngster her family moved to California and it
was there that she came under the tutelage of the renowned Leo
Podolsky from whom she learned to refine her extraordinary natural
abilities. With growing recognition of her skills, she was quickly
entered in several piano competitions in the Los Angeles area,
where she fared very well. In one contest she had the opportunity
to be tutored by the composer himself, Frank Sannuci. The anxiety
that is a part of youth held sway and she forgot the music she
was to play. But she began again and completed the piece flawlessly.
Although she won no award from the judges, Frank Sannuci took
her aside and commended her for her beautiful performance of
his composition and commented that she should have won in his
opinion, for the expression and emotion with which she interpreted
his music was exactly as he envisioned it. In another competition
in Los Angeles she won top honors.
As Sharon matured as a young woman she also matured as an artist.
During her years in high school she accompanied the school choir
at times, but enjoyed singing with the choir as well. Her growth
as a musician and performer continued after her graduation from
high school, and she found ample opportunity to display her skills
in a teachers college.
But then, like so many other young women of her generation, Sharon
left college to pursue another career. With a change in physical
environment, and with different demands on her time, Sharon played
the piano less and less often, and then after she was married and
began raising a family she stopped playing altogether.
But the music within her continued and after a passage of time
a deep desire to play again would not let her find contentment
without fulfillment of that desire. Her mother, a strong and
positive influence in her early life, continued to support and
encourage her to begin again, and her husband joined in affirming
Sharon's ambitions. By this time Sharon was living in Florida
and had become active in her church. Recognizing her talent,
the church asked her to play during its services, and shortly
after her ministry in music began so too, did continuing inspiration
to compose. Melodies, including harmonies, would race through
her head, but it wasn't until the summer of 2002 that she allowed
herself the confidence to score her first composition.
Sharon and her husband bought their first computer January 2002
and then a music program in February. Learning everything as quickly
as she could, within a matter of a few months she had written enough
new scores to consider the possibility of recording her own CD,
and in August of 2002 "Tranquility Collection" was completed.
To those who have been privileged to hear it, there is an immediate
realization that the music of Sharon Drury is a reflection of her
soul. It speaks gentleness and peace, and there is an underlying
theme of unity with her Maker. Her music seems to be more than
just lovely notes strung together like an exquisite row of precious
gems. It has an ethereal quality about it that seems to embrace
all who hear it with subliminal joy.
In describing her work Sharon says she writes "just what comes
to me." She is devoted to her Father in Heaven and devoted
too to doing whatever it is he wants her to do. She wants to believe
that perhaps she is an instrument that can help bring peace into
someone's world.
Since the release of her first CD good things have begun to happen.
She also released a second CD in 2002 "A North Country Christmas",
which has also been very well received. National Public Radio has
given her music air-time, as have other outlets including WQFS
radio in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the recognition of her
music has expanded as well. In 2003 she composed two new Cds, "A
Mother's Love"
and "Woodland Fantasies". In 2004 two more CDs were added, "Morning
Light" and "The Road Less Traveled". In 2005 an
ambient CD "Beyond Time", her eighth CD "Night Songs",
and the ninth CD "Christmas Past" were completed. Sharon
now has eleven CDs including
“Mist On The Mountain” and “Out Of The Blue,
which she completed in 2006.
Sharon says she has no lofty goals, but that there is nothing she
would like to do more than to be able to write and play all the
time. She harbors a desire to score movies and perhaps television
productions, but her greatest wish is to be recognized for her
ability to make a difference in people's lives through her music.
Perhaps the greatest gift anyone can have is the ability to share
one's own blessings. Sharon Drury is gifted indeed, and in listening
to and enjoying her music makes one aware that she has shared the
gentleness of her soul with a troubled and hurting world.
|
|