In The Bleak Midwinter

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.