Yes, you can cut the tips when they leaf out to promote bushiness. It is called pinching.

Thanks so much Luis. How far down the stem do you think should I make my cut?

I do not think we can control exactly where the plant will produce growth when we pinch. Once you pinch the stem as close to above the leaf nodes as possible, it may produce growth anywhere. If it tres to develop new growth in the area of the stem that is already ok, I would cut that new growth to try to force growth only in the area that you want to encourage growth.

Eventually (after you get more growth on the top), you could also prune the bottom part to develop a tree-like growth that I looks nice in pictures. I have not done that myself but always thought it looked like a nice small camellia tree.

Luis

'Tom Knudsen' is a great variety, and I'm sure it will look great however you decide to prune it.

If you like a full, bushy shape, you'll want to pinch it back as Luis described, and also cut back any branches that are overly long.

If you have a preference for a shrub or tree shape, you can prune it to your preference. If you don't have a preference, you can just watch how your plant 'wants' to grow and shape-prune accordingly.