New Music Friday: ¡Nunca te Rindas!

This week for New Music Friday, we are featuring ¡Nunca tee Rindas! by Emmy award-winning composer Thom Sharp.

On a recent trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, the composer learned of the incredible resilience of the native people of the region. The stories of colonization, slaughter, and assimilation were poignant reminders of the resilience of the Otomi people. ¡Nunca te Rindas! pays tribute to these remarkable people.

Precise and crisp rhythm is the key to this work. Notice the contrast between the articulated rhythm in the lower three voices and the legato style in the upper two voices in the first two sections. Whenever the piece returns to this contrast, be sure to bring out the difference. It might be fun to add some rhythm instruments to this work. An eighth-note shaker or maraca part and perhaps a 3-2 clave rhythm would be festive. A set drummer could also be employed.

Thom Sharp, a native of southeastern Ohio’s Appalachian foothills, is an Emmy Award-winning composer, having composed music for Disney, Dreamworks, Paramount, Universal, and others. In addition, he has written several children’s music pageants and co-wrote and produced Songs from the Circle, a Parent Choice Approved CD of children’s songs. He has penned over 80 compositions for elementary, junior high and high school orchestras and bands.
Thom holds a degree in music education from Ohio University and studied composition, arranging, and film scoring at the Grove School of Music. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Fine Arts Alumni Award from Ohio University and is a member of the Professional Musicians Union Local 47 and ASCAP.

Thom teaches composition, theory, arranging, and orchestration at Cal State Fullerton, UCLA Extension, and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

Thom currently lives in Los Angeles with vocalist and composer Sue Roberts Sharp, his wife of 30+ years.