Sharon Isbin

Sharon Isbin is a multiple Grammy Award winning American classical guitarist and the founding director of the guitar department at the Juilliard School.[1]

Sharon Isbin
Sharon Isbin in 2011
Background information
BornSt. Louis Park, Minnesota, U.S.
GenresClassical, folk
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsClassical guitar
Years active1970–present
LabelsSony Classics, Warner Classics, Cedille Records, Bridge Records, Video Artists International
Websitewww.sharonisbin.com

Personal life and education

Sharon Isbin was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of Katherine Isbin[2] and Herbert S. Isbin,[3] a nuclear scientist and professor at the University of Minnesota and author of Introductory Nuclear Reactor Theory (1963).[4] She began her guitar studies at age nine with Aldo Minella in Varese, Italy, where her father had been hired as a consultant.[5] She later studied with Jeffrey Van, Sophocles Papas, Andrés Segovia, Oscar Ghiglia, Alirio Díaz, and for ten years with the noted keyboard artist and Bach scholar Rosalyn Tureck. Isbin collaborated with Tureck in preparing and recording landmark first performance editions of the Bach lute suites for guitar.[6]

She began practicing Transcendental Meditation at age 17.[7] She received a B.A. cum laude from Yale University and a Master of Music from the Yale School of Music.

Music career

Performing and recording

Isbin has appeared as soloist with over 200 orchestras, and has commissioned more concertos than any other guitarist—including works by John Corigliano, Tan Dun, Aaron Jay Kernis, Joseph Schwantner, Lukas Foss, Chris Brubeck, and Christopher Rouse.[8]

In 2015, she performed with Josh Groban on the Billy Joel: Gershwin Prize concert broadcast nationally on PBS, and in February 2015 she was featured on the Tavis Smiley PBS television series.

Isbin gave the world premiere of Blossom Suite, composed by and performed with rock guitarist Steve Vai during a week of concerts she performed at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris in 2005. Her earliest crossover collaborations began with Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida and jazz guitarist Larry Coryell with whom she recorded and performed for five years. In 2014, she performed a 20-city Guitar Passions tour with jazz musicians Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo.

Other composers who have written for her include Joan Tower, David Diamond, Ned Rorem, Howard Shore, John Duarte, Leo Brouwer, Bruce MacCombie, and Richard Danielpour who was commissioned to write a song cycle for her and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard by New York's Carnegie Hall for their 125th anniversary and by Chicago's Harris Theater.[9]

Isbin's catalogue of over 30 recordings ranges from baroque, Spanish/Latin and 20th century to crossover and jazz fusion. Her most recent release is Souvenirs of Spain & Italy (Cedille) with the Pacifica Quartet, which debuted at no. 2 on Billboard charts and at no. 1 on Amazon. Her Alma Espanola (Bridge) with mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard was honored by a 2018 GRAMMY Award for Producer of the Year, Classical. The acclaimed one-hour documentary Sharon Isbin: Troubadour, winner of the 2015 ASCAP Television Broadcast Award, has been seen by millions on over 200 PBS stations in the U.S. and abroad, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Video Artists International. In October 2014, Warner Classics released a 5-CD box set of her most popular albums on the label, titled Sharon Isbin: 5 Classic Albums. Her 2011 release Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar Passions (Sony) became a no. 1 bestseller on Amazon.com, and includes guests Steve Vai, Stanley Jordan, Nancy Wilson, Steve Morse, Romero Lubambo, Rosa Passos, Thiago de Mello, and Paul Winter.

Awards and honors

Boston magazine called Isbin "the pre-eminent guitarist of our time".[9] She is the winner of Guitar Player magazine's Best Classical Guitarist award, First Prize winner of the Toronto Guitar '75 competition, a winner of the Madrid Queen Sofia, the first guitarist to win the Munich ARD International Competition, the winner of Concert Artists Guild 2013 Virtuoso Award, Germany's Echo Klassik Award, and Musical America’s 2020 Instrumentalist of the Year, becoming the first guitarist in their 59 award year history to receive the award.[10]

She won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist for her CD Journey to the New World (Sony), which includes guests Joan Baez and Mark O'Connor, and she was the only classical artist to perform at the Grammys that year. Ranked as a no. 1 bestselling classical CD on Amazon.com and iTunes, it spent 63 consecutive weeks on the top of the Billboard charts.

She won a Grammy in 2001 for Dreams of a World: Folk-Inspired Music for Guitar (Warner Classics) for "Best Instrumental Soloist", becoming the first classical guitarist to win a Grammy in 28 years.

Her world premiere recording of concertos written for her by Christopher Rouse and Tan Dun won another Grammy in 2002, and she won Germany's prestigious Echo Klassik Award for "Best Concert Recording".

She received a 2005 Latin Grammy nomination for "Best Classical Album" and a 2006 GLAAD Media Award nomination for "Outstanding Music Artist" for her disc with the New York Philharmonic of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez and concertos by Mexican composer Manuel Ponce and Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos. This is the Philharmonic's first-ever recording with guitar, and follows their Avery Fisher Hall performances in June 2004 with Sharon Isbin as their first guitar soloist in 26 years.

Her Journey to the Amazon with Brazilian percussionist Thiago de Mello and saxophonist Paul Winter, received a 1999 Grammy nomination for "Best Classical Crossover Album."

Her CD of Aaron Jay Kernis' Double Concerto with violinist Cho-Liang Lin and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra received a 2000 Grammy nomination.

In November 1995, her CD American Landscapes and her Soloette Travel Guitar was launched in the space shuttle Atlantis and presented to Russian cosmonauts during a rendezvous with Mir.

On September 11, 2002, Isbin's performance for the memorial tribute at Ground Zero was televised live throughout the world. Isbin features on the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese's The Departed, which won four Academy Awards in 2007, including Best Picture, and on the Grammy nominated score soundtrack CD composed by Howard Shore.

In November 2009, she performed a concert at the White House by invitation of President Obama and the First Lady.

An internationally acclaimed one-hour documentary on her titled Sharon Isbin: Troubadour, produced by Susan Dangel and presented by American Public Television, has been broadcast on over 200 public television stations throughout the United States since November 2014, and is the winner of the 2015 ASCAP Television Broadcast Award.[11][12][13]

Teaching and other work

In 1989, she created the Master of Music degree, Graduate Diploma and Artist Diploma for classical guitar at the Juilliard School, making history by becoming their first guitar faculty and the founding director of the guitar department; she added the Bachelor of Music degree and Undergraduate Diploma to the program in 2007, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in 2018.[14]

Isbin is the author of the Classical Guitar Answer Book, and is director of the Guitar Department at the Aspen Music Festival.[15]

On November 5, 2015, the David Lynch Foundation organised a benefit concert at New York City's Carnegie Hall named "Change Begins Within", to promote transcendental meditation for stress control. Sharon Isbin participated alongside the likes of Katy Perry, Sting, Jerry Seinfeld, Angelique Kidjo and Jim James.[16]

Awards

Grammy
  • 2000: Grammy nomination, Kernis: Double Concerto for Violin and Guitar with Cho-Liang Lin and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
  • 1999: Grammy nomination for Best Classical Crossover Album, Journey to the Amazon
  • 2001: Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist, Dreams of a World
  • 2002: Grammy Award for Rouse: Concert de Gaudi
  • 2005: Latin Grammy nomination for Best Classical Album, Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Villa-Lobos: Concerto for guitar; Ponce: Concierto del sur with the New York Philharmonic
  • 2010: Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist, Journey to the New World

Other awards
  • Toronto Guitar competition, first prize, 1975
  • Winner Munich ARD International Music Competition, 1976
  • Madrid Queen Sofia International Competition, 1979
  • Echo Klassik Award, Best Concert Recording, 2002
  • Concert Artists Guild Virtuoso Award, 2013
  • ASCAP Television Broadcast Award, 2015
  • Little Orchestra Society's Artistic Excellence Award, 2019
  • Musical America 2020 Instrumentalist of the Year Award
  • Best Classical Guitarist, Guitar Player magazine

Discography
compact discs
datetitlelabelcatalog numberformattotal playing timenotes
1978Sharon Isbin Classical GuitarSound EnvironmentTR-10101 LPmusic by Brouwer, Ponce, Sor, Lauro, Albeniz
1980Sharon Isbin Classical Guitar Vol. IISound EnvironmentTR-10131 LPmusic by Bach, Britten, Brouwer
1981Sharon Isbin Spanish Works for GuitarDenonOF-7012-ND1 LPWith Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony; music by Tarrega, Sainz de la Maza, Rodrigo "Concierto de Aranjuez"
1981Sharon Isbin Guitar RecitalDenonOX-7224-ND1 LPmusic by Dodgson, MacCombie, Scarlatti, Bach "Chaconne"
1984Dances for GuitarPro ArteCDD 3431 CD/LPMusic by Barrios Mangore, Rodrigo, Lauro, Vianna, Savio, Turina, Granados, Castelnuovo-Tedesco
19853 Guitars 3Pro ArteCDD 2351 CD/LPWith Larry Coryell and Laurindo Almeida; music by Nazareth, Gnattali, de Falla, Almeida, Rodrigo, Coryell
1987Brazil, With LoveConcordCCD-43201 CD/LPWith Carlos Barbosa-Lima; music by Jobim, Nazareth, Vianna
1988Rhapsody in Blue/West Side StoryConcordCCD-420121 CD/LPWith Carlos Barbosa-Lima; music by Gershwin and Bernstein
1989J.S. Bach Complete Lute SuitesEMI/Virgin ClassicsVC 7 90712-21 CD (DDD)78:45
1990Road to the SunEMI/Virgin ClassicsVC 7-59591-21 CDMusic by Sainz de la Maza, Rodrigo, Barrios Mangore, Abreu, Jobim, Tarrega, Brouwer, Villa-Lobos, Albeniz
1991Love Songs & LullabiesEMI/Virgin ClassicsVC 7-91750-21 CDWith soprano Benita Valente, baritone Thomas Allen, organic percussionist Thiago de Mello
1991Rodrigo: Concierto de AranjuezEMI/Virgin Classics07777-59024-21 CDRodrigo "Fantasia para un gentilhombre" and "Concierto de Aranjuez", Vivaldi "Concerto in D"
1994Nightshade RoundsEMI/Virgin ClassicsVC 5 45024 21 CD (DDD)Five bagatelles/ William Walton (13:54) – Nightshade rounds / Bruce MacCombie (10:06) – Preludes for piano/ George Gershwin;arr. Carlos Barbosa-Lima (5:48) – Clocks/ Joan Tower (9:07) – Folk song from English suite : op. 31/ John W. Duarte (4:20) – Nocturnal : op. 70/ Benjamin Britten (17:53).
1995American LandscapesEMI/Angel72435-67672-21 CD (DDD)With The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra conducted by Hugh Wolff. World premiere recording of concertos written for Sharon Isbin by John Corigliano, Joseph Schwantner, Lukas Foss.
1995Black TopazNew World Records9322-80470-21 CDWith flutist Carol Wincenc performing world premiere recording of "Snow Dreams" written for Isbin and Wincenc.
1997Journey to the AmazonWarner Classics0630-19899-21 CDWith Paul Winter, and Gaudencio Thiago de Mello. Music by Almeida, Lauro, Barrios Mangore, Thiago de Mello, Montana, Savio, Brouwer, Canonico, Vianna. 1999 Grammy Nomination
1998Wayfaring StrangerWarner Classics3984-23419-21 CDWith mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, music by Schubert, Seiber, Niles, Sainz de la Maza, Rodrigo, Granados, Martini, Tarrega,
1999Kernis Double Concerto for Violin & GuitarDecca/Argo289-460226-21 CDWith violinist Cho-Liang Lin and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra conducted by Hugh Wolff. World premiere recording of concerto for written for Sharon Isbin by Aaron Jay Kernis.
1999Dreams of a WorldWarner Classics3984-25736-21 CD (DDD)Folk-inspired Music for Guitar. 8 World Premieres; Music from Appalachia, Ireland, Greece, Israel, Spain, Cuba, Venezuela and Brazil. 2001 Grammy Award
2001Rouse: Concert de Gaudí/Tan Dun: Guitar Concerto Yi2Warner Classics8573-81830-21 CD (DDD)With the Gulbenkian Orchestra conducted by Muhai Tang. World premiere recording of concertos written for Sharon Isbin. 2002 Grammy Award, Echo Klassik Award
2003Sharon Isbin Plays Baroque Favorites for GuitarWarner Classics0927-45312-21 CDWith the Zurich Chamber Orchestra conducted by Howard Griffiths, music by Bach, Vivaldi, Albinoni
2004Sharon Isbin – Artist PortraitWarner Classics2564-61591-21 CDMusic by Vivaldi, Bach, Rodrigo, Sainz de la Maza, Lauro, Almeida, Thiago de Mello, Niles, Tan Dun, Albinoni, Takemitsu, Tarrega, Martini, Schubert, Rouse
2005Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Villa-Lobos: Concerto for guitar; Ponce: Concierto del surWarner Classics2564-60296-21 CDWith the New York Philharmonic conducted by José Serebrier. 2005 Latin Grammy Nomination
2006The DepartedNew Line390781 CDHoward Shore's soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's film. 2008 Grammy Nomination
2009Journey to the New WorldSony Classical88697-45456-21 CDGuest artists: folk singer Joan Baez and violinist Mark O'Connor. 2010 Grammy Award
2011Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar PassionsSony Classical88697-84219-21 CDGuest artists: Steve Vai, Stanley Jordan, Nancy Wilson, Steve Morse, Romero Lubambo, Rosa Passos, Thiago de Mello, Paul Winter
2014Sharon Isbin: 5 Classic AlbumsWarner Classics2564-62436-45 CDsJourney to the Amazon, Dreams of a World, Baroque Favorites, Rouse-Tan Dun Concertos, Rodrigo/Villa-Lobos/Ponce Concertos with New York Philharmonic
2015Sharon Isbin: TroubadourVideo Artists InternationalDVD 4580Blu-ray 8202Award-winning documentary presented by American Public Television. Guests include Joan Baez, First Lady Michelle Obama, Martina Navratilova, Garrison Keillor, Steve Vai, Stanley Jordan, Mark O'Connor, John Corigliano, Christopher Rouse, Tan Dun, Joan Tower, Romero Lubambo, David Hyde Pierce, Janis Ian & more. Winner 2015 ASCAP Television Broadcast Award
2017Alma Española: Isabel Leonard & Sharon IsbinBridge Records94911 CDComposers: Federico García Lorca, Joaquín Rodrigo, Agustín Lara, Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatge, Francisco Tárrega, Enrique Granados
2019Souvenirs of Spain & Italy: Sharon Isbin & Pacifica QuartetCedille RecordsCDR 90000 1901 CDComposers: Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Vivaldi, Turina, Boccherini

References
  1. Maurice J. Summerfield: The Classical Guitar. Its Evolution, Players and Personalities Since 1800 (Blaydon-on-Tyne: Ashley Mark Publishing Co., 5th edition, 2002), p. 153–155.
  2. "Katherine (Brudnoy) Isbin Obituary".
  3. "Herbert S. Isbin obituary".
  4. Herbert S. Isbin. Introductory Nuclear Reactor Theory (1963).
  5. "Musos Magazine, Nov. 2011" (PDF).
  6. "Sharon Isbin – Publications". www.sharonisbin.com.
  7. Peterson, Diane (January 21, 2011). "Ambassador of guitar to star with SR Symphony: Sharon Isbin broke new ground, founding program at Juilliard". The Press Democrat. Santa Rosa, Calif. p. D.1.
  8. "Concerti written for Sharon Isbin".
  9. "Sharon Isbin – Biography". www.sharonisbin.com.
  10. "Official Biography".
  11. "Press highlights, Sharon Isbin: Troubadour".
  12. Broadcast dates, Sharon Isbin: Troubadour
  13. "EuroArts, Sharon Isbin: Troubadour".
  14. "Juilliard Guitar Department".
  15. Aspen Music Festival and School. "Artist Faculty, Sharon Isbin".
  16. Grow, Kory. "Katy Perry, Sting Stun at David Lynch's Meditation Benefit Concert – Jerry Seinfeld, Angelique Kidjo, Jim James and others also perform and explain relaxation technique's importance to them at New York's Carnegie Hall". Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
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