Peabody's Sharkey appointed principal at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Jeffrey Sharkey, director of Johns Hopkins University's Peabody Institute since 2006, has been appointed the next principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, one of that country's leading performing arts institutions and venues.

Image caption: Jeff Sharkey

Sharkey, who announced in May that he would not seek another term as Peabody's director, will succeed John Wallace, who will retire in 2014.

"I have many wonderful memories of our students and colleagues to carry with me," Sharkey wrote in a message to Peabody faculty, staff, and students this morning, "and it has been an honor and pleasure to serve as director of the Peabody Institute these past eight years."

Sharkey, a pianist, composer, and veteran music educator, became director of the Peabody Institute in September 2006. In that position, he is responsible for the nearly 700 undergraduates and graduate students in the institute's Conservatory, and for the Peabody Preparatory, a community music and dance school serving 1,800 students from early childhood through adulthood.

"I am grateful for Jeff's dedication to Peabody and to Johns Hopkins, for his commitment to increasing faculty support and student aid, and for his efforts to enrich the lives of Baltimore's residents through music," President Ronald J. Daniels said. "Jeff has been a wonderful university citizen, and we all wish him well as he broadens his impact on the performing arts."

Sharkey plans to remain as Peabody's director as he plans for his transition to Glasgow, Daniels said. He will work with a search committee led by JHU Provost Robert C. Lieberman to identify a successor, who will hold the title Dean of the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University.

"Jeff's guidance will be invaluable as we search for Peabody's next leader," Lieberman said. "I'm grateful for his continued dedication, even as he looks ahead to this exciting new challenge."

Before joining Peabody, Sharkey had been dean of the Cleveland Institute of Music since 2001, serving as the chief academic officer of its college division. He was director of music at the Purcell School in London from 1996 to 2001, and head of composition and academic music at Wells Cathedral School, also in England, from 1990 to 1996.

Sharkey is a 1986 graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and earned a Master of Music degree in composition from Yale University in 1988 and a Master of Philosophy from Cambridge University a year later.