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Acclaimed for her extraordinary lyricism, technique and versatility,
Grammy Award winner Sharon Isbin has been hailed as 'the pre-eminent
guitarist of our time.' She is also the winner of Guitar Player
magazine's 'Best Classical Guitarist' award, the Madrid Queen Sofia
and Toronto Competitions, and was the first guitarist ever to win
the Munich Competition. She has given sold-out performances throughout
the world in the greatest halls including New York's Carnegie Hall
and Avery Fisher Hall (Great Performers Series), Boston's Symphony
Hall, Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center, Toronto's Ford Centre, London's
Barbican Centre and Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Munich's
Herkulessaal, and Madrid's Teatro Real, among many others. She has
served as Artistic Director/Soloist of festivals she created for
Carnegie Hall and the Ordway Music Theatre (St. Paul), her own series
at New York's 92nd Street Y, and the nationally acclaimed radio
series Guitarjam. She is a frequent guest on nationally-broadcast
radio programs including St. Paul Sunday, All Things Considered,
and Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. She has
been profiled on the nationally-televised CBS Sunday Morning
program and A&E's Breakfast with the Arts, and in periodicals
from People to Elle and the New York Times, as well
as featured on the cover of more than 25 magazines.
Isbin's catalogue of over 20 recordings — from Baroque, Spanish/Latin
and 20th Century to crossover and jazz-fusion — reflect remarkable
versatility. They have received many awards, including 'Critic's
Choice Recording of the Year' in both Gramophone and CD
Review, 'Recording of the Month' in Stereo Review, and
'Album of the Year' in Guitar Player. An exclusive Teldec
Classics artist, her Dreams of a World: Folk-inspired Music for
Guitar soared onto top classical Billboard charts, edging
out The 3 Tenors, and earned her a 2001 Grammy Award for
'Best Instrumental Soloist Performance' making her the first classical
guitarist to receive a Grammy in 28 years. Her latest Warner Classics
release is Sharon Isbin Plays Baroque Favorites for Guitar,
featuring concerti by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Albinoni, including
four world premieres. Her world premiere recording of concerti written
for her by Christopher Rouse and Tan Dun (composer of Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon), debuted as #6 on the Billboard charts
and received a 2002 Grammy Award for the concerto by Rouse, earned
her a third Grammy nomination ('Best Instrumental Soloist Performance
with Orchestra'), as well as Germany's prestigious Echo Klassik
Award for 'Best Concert Recording.' Her Journey to the Amazon
with Brazilian percussionist Thiago de Mello and saxophonist Paul
Winter, a Billboard bestseller in the U.S. and U.K., received
a 1999 Grammy nomination for 'Best Classical Crossover Album' making
her the first guitarist ever to be nominated in this category. Other
recent CDs include Greatest Hits (EMI/Virgin Classics), Wayfaring
Stranger (Erato) with mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, and Aaron
Jay Kernis' Double Concerto (Argo/Decca) with violinist Cho-Liang
Lin and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) which received a
2000 Grammy nomination. Her eight best-selling titles for EMI/Virgin
Classics include J.S. Bach Complete Lute Suites and Rodrigo:
Concierto de Aranjuez which Joaquin Rodrigo praised as 'magnificent.'
She is also featured on the Grammy Foundation's Smart Symphonies
CD distributed to over five million families.
Isbin has been acclaimed for expanding the guitar repertoire with
some of the finest new works of the century. She has commissioned
and premiered more concerti than any other guitarist, as well as
numerous solo and chamber works. Her American Landscapes
(EMI/Virgin Classics) with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra conducted
by Hugh Wolff is the first-ever recording of American guitar concerti
and features works written for her by John Corigliano, Joseph Schwantner,
and Lukas Foss. (In November 1995, it was launched in the space
shuttle Atlantis and presented to Russian cosmonauts during a rendezvous
with Mir.) She has also recorded the Schwantner with Leonard Slatkin
and the St. Louis Symphony. In January 2000, she premiered the ninth
concerto written for her: Concert de Gaudí by Christopher
Rouse with Christoph Eschenbach and the NDR Symphony, followed by
performances with Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony, and David
Zinman at the Aspen Music Festival. Among the many other composers
who have written for her are Joan Tower, David Diamond, Ned Rorem,
Aaron Jay Kernis and Leo Brouwer.
Sharon Isbin premiered Christopher Rouse's Concert de Gaudi
in Hamburg, Germany, January 2, 2000 with conductor Christoph Eschenbach,
followed by the Dallas Symphony in March. The Dallas Morning
News says "It's uncommonly beautiful and here's predicting
it's going to be performed and recorded a lot. The work is a salute
to Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi… Its emotional impact is
reminiscent of Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain…
virtuoso performance by Sharon Isbin." She performs the work
during the Festival's Grand Finale concerts at Mission San Juan
Bautista, Sunday, August 15, 4pm and 8 pm.
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