University of North Carolina Board of Governors Names Award for Excellence in Teaching

Double Bassist Paul Sharpe will be honored with a cash prize of $12,500

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) has honored double bass professor Paul Sharpe with the UNC Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award. The awards were established in 1993, and carry a cash prize of $12,500 as well as a bronze medallion.

Sharpe, a professor at UNCSA since 2007, is also active internationally as an orchestral and chamber musician plus a soloist. He has appeared with the UNCSA Wind Ensemble, Winston-Salem Symphony, Boise Philharmonic, Anchorage Symphony, Orquestra de Camara Theatro Sao Pedro (Porto Alegre, Brazil), Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Orchestra, Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, and Aspen Young Artists Orchestra.

In recent years, his students have won positions in the Philadelphia Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony, Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra in Japan, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and El Paso Symphony. In eight of the last nine years, one or more students in his UNCSA High School studio have been appointed to the National Youth Orchestra-USA or NYO2 orchestras.

"These extraordinary faculty members have dedicated their lives to teaching and are committed to lifting up their students to become the next generation of leaders for North Carolina and the nation," said UNC Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey. "We are grateful for their service and congratulate them on these awards."

"Paul Sharpe is the epitome of a great faculty member and role model for our students," said UNCSA Chancellor Brian Cole. "His vast international experience performing and teaching and his exuberance for expanding the perception of a classical double bassist are to be admired. He clearly loves what he does and infuses his teaching with that reverence and passion for his craft, and UNCSA and its double bass students are indeed fortunate to have him.”