Sharon Isbin
Encyclopedia
Sharon Isbin is a widely-recorded American classical guitar
ist, recording artist, concertizer, and the founder of the Guitar Department at the Juilliard School
.
, Oscar Ghiglia
, Alirio Díaz
and Rosalyn Tureck
. She began practicing Transcendental Meditation
at age 17. She received a B.A. cum laude from Yale University
and a Master of Music from the Yale School of Music
.
and The Juilliard School. Isbin has been hailed as “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time” (Boston Magazine
.) She is also 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, and the first guitarist ever to win the Munich Competition.
Isbin has appeared as soloist with over 160 orchestras, and has commissioned more concerti than any other guitarist, including concerti by John Corigliano, Tan Dun, Aaron Jay Kernis, Joseph Schwantner, Lukas Foss, and Christopher Rouse. Other composers who have written for her include Joan Tower, David Diamond, Ned Rorem, Howard Shore, John Duarte, Leo Brouwer
and Steve Vai.
Isbin's catalogue of over 25 recordings ranges from Baroque
, Spanish/Latin and 20th century to crossover and jazz-fusion. In November 1995, her CD American Landscapes was launched in the space shuttle Atlantis
and presented to Russia
n cosmonauts during a rendezvous with Mir
. She won a Grammy Award
in 2001 for her Dreams of a World: Folk-Inspired Music for Guitar for “Best Instrumental Soloist,” becoming the first classical guitarist to win a Grammy in 28 years. She won another in 2002 and as well Germany's prestigious Echo Klassik Award for “Best Concert Recording” for her world premiere recording of concerti written for her by Christopher Rouse and Tan Dun
. She also won 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 Joaquin Rodrigo
’s Concierto de Aranjuez and concerti 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.
Isbin is the founder of Juilliard’s guitar department.
In 1989, she created the master of music degree, graduate diploma and artist diploma, and in 2007, added the bachelor of music degree and undergraduate diploma. In an interview she has stated that she always plays scales in a three-part regimen with a metronome.
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.
On September 11, 2002, Ms. Isbin's performance for the memorial tribute at Ground Zero
was televised live throughout the world. Sharon Isbin is featured 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 March 2009, Isbin played Joaquín Rodrigo
's Fantasia para un gentilhombre (Fantasy for a gentleman) for guitar and orchestra with the Stockton Symphony
. In November, she performed a concert at the White House
by invitation of the President and First Lady. Her album Journey to the New World, with Joan Baez
and Mark O'Connor
, won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra)
.
Classical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
ist, recording artist, concertizer, and the founder of the Guitar Department at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
.
Early life and education
Sharon Isbin was born in Minneapolis and began her guitar studies at age nine. She was a student of Aldo Minella, Andrés SegoviaAndrés Segovia
Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquis of Salobreña , known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain...
, Oscar Ghiglia
Oscar Ghiglia
Oscar Ghiglia is an Italian classical guitarist.Born of an artistic family - his father and grandfather were both famed painters, his mother an accomplished pianist – Oscar Ghiglia had to choose between a path strewn with brushes and colours and a world cut into harmony and melody.Though his early...
, Alirio Díaz
Alirio Diaz
Alirio Díaz is a Venezuelan classical guitarist.The eighth of eleven children, Díaz was born in Caserio La Candelaria, a small village near Carora in western Venezuela. From childhood he showed a great interest in music. At age 16 he ran away from home to Carora, where he sought better schooling...
and Rosalyn Tureck
Rosalyn Tureck
Rosalyn Tureck was an American pianist and harpsichordist who was particularly associated with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
. She began practicing Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation refers to the Transcendental Meditation technique, a specific form of mantra meditation, and to the Transcendental Meditation movement, a spiritual movement...
at age 17. She received a B.A. cum laude from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and a Master of Music from the Yale School of Music
Yale School of Music
The Yale School of Music is one of the twelve professional schools at Yale University and one of the premier music conservatories in the world....
.
Music career
She is the author of the Classical Guitar Answer Book, and is Director of guitar departments at the Aspen Music Festivaland The Juilliard School. Isbin has been hailed as “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time” (Boston Magazine
Boston magazine
Boston is a monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area and has been in publication for more than 40 years.-About the magazine:The magazine is self-described as:...
.) She is also the winner of Guitar Player
Guitar Player
Guitar Player is a popular magazine for guitarists founded in 1967. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print since the late 1960s and during the 1980s, under editor Tom Wheeler, the publication was...
magazine’s “Best Classical Guitarist” award, First Prize winner of the Toronto Guitar ’75 competition, a winner of the Madrid Queen Sofia, and the first guitarist ever to win the Munich Competition.
Isbin has appeared as soloist with over 160 orchestras, and has commissioned more concerti than any other guitarist, including concerti by John Corigliano, Tan Dun, Aaron Jay Kernis, Joseph Schwantner, Lukas Foss, and Christopher Rouse. Other composers who have written for her include Joan Tower, David Diamond, Ned Rorem, Howard Shore, John Duarte, Leo Brouwer
Leo Brouwer
Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida is a Cuban composer, conductor and guitarist. He is the grandson of Cuban composer Ernestina Lecuona Casado.-Biography:...
and Steve Vai.
Isbin's catalogue of over 25 recordings ranges from Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
, Spanish/Latin and 20th century to crossover and jazz-fusion. In November 1995, her CD American Landscapes was launched in the space shuttle Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
and presented to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n cosmonauts during a rendezvous with Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
. She won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 2001 for her Dreams of a World: Folk-Inspired Music for Guitar for “Best Instrumental Soloist,” becoming the first classical guitarist to win a Grammy in 28 years. She won another in 2002 and as well Germany's prestigious Echo Klassik Award for “Best Concert Recording” for her world premiere recording of concerti written for her by Christopher Rouse and Tan Dun
Tan Dun
Tan Dun is a Chinese contemporary classical composer, most widely known for his scores for the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero.-Early life in China:...
. She also won a 2005 Latin Grammy nomination for “Best Classical Album” and a 2006 GLAAD Media Award
GLAAD Media Awards
The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives...
nomination for “Outstanding Music Artist” for her disc with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
of Joaquin Rodrigo
Joaquín Rodrigo
Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez , commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a composer of classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being nearly blind from an early age, he achieved great success...
’s Concierto de Aranjuez and concerti by Mexican composer Manuel Ponce and Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
. 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
Paul Winter
Paul Winter is an American saxophonist , and is a six-time Grammy Award nominee.- Biography :Paul Winter attended Altoona Area High School and graduated in 1957...
, received a 1999 Grammy nomination for “Best Classical Crossover Album.” Her CD of Aaron Jay Kernis
Aaron Jay Kernis
Aaron Jay Kernis is an American composer and professor at the Yale School of Music.-Biography:Aaron Jay Kernis is Jewish, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and studied at the Manhattan School of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory, and Yale University .,Notable works include the...
’ ‘’Double Concerto’’ with violinist Cho-Liang Lin
Cho-Liang Lin
Cho-Liang Lin , born in Hsinchu, Taiwan, is a Taiwanese American violinist who is renowned for his appearances as a soloist with major orchestras. "Musical America" named him its "Instrumentalist of the Year" in 2000...
and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra , based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is the United States' only full-time professional chamber orchestra...
received a 2000 Grammy nomination.
Isbin is the founder of Juilliard’s guitar department.
In 1989, she created the master of music degree, graduate diploma and artist diploma, and in 2007, added the bachelor of music degree and undergraduate diploma. In an interview she has stated that she always plays scales in a three-part regimen with a metronome.
Isbin gave the world premiere of Blossom Suite, composed by and performed with rock guitarist Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
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
Laurindo Almeida
Laurindo Almeida was a Brazilian virtuoso guitaristand composer who made many recordings of enduring impact in classical, jazz and Latin genres...
and jazz guitarist Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...
with whom she recorded and performed for five years.
On September 11, 2002, Ms. Isbin's performance for the memorial tribute at Ground Zero
Ground zero
The term ground zero describes the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation...
was televised live throughout the world. Sharon Isbin is featured on the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's The Departed
The Departed
The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film, fashioned as a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan...
which won four Academy Awards in 2007, including Best Picture, and on the Grammy nominated score soundtrack CD composed by Howard Shore
Howard Shore
Howard Leslie Shore is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg,...
.
In March 2009, Isbin played Joaquín Rodrigo
Joaquín Rodrigo
Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez , commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a composer of classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being nearly blind from an early age, he achieved great success...
's Fantasia para un gentilhombre (Fantasy for a gentleman) for guitar and orchestra with the Stockton Symphony
Stockton Symphony
The Stockton Symphony Association is an American orchestra based in Stockton, California. It was founded in 1926 by Manlio Silva and is the third oldest orchestra in California.Since 1995 Peter Jaffe has been music director and conductor.-Concert halls:...
. In November, she performed a concert at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
by invitation of the President and First Lady. Her album Journey to the New World, with Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
and Mark O'Connor
Mark O'Connor
Mark O'Connor is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition...
, won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra)
The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance was awarded from 1959 to 2011. From 1967 to 1971 and in 1987 the award was combined with the award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance and awarded as the Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance - Instrumental Soloist or...
.
Discography
| date | title | label | catalog number | format | total playing time | notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 12 April 1994 | Nightshade Rounds | Virgin Classics EMI Classics EMI Classics is a record label of EMI, formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases.... |
VC 5 45024 2 | 1 CD (DDD) | Five bagatelles/ William Walton William Walton Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera... (13:54) – Nightshade rounds / Bruce MacCombie Bruce MacCombie Bruce MacCombie is an American composer.He studied at the University of Massachusetts and Freiburg Conservatory, and holds a Ph.D. in music from the University of Iowa... (10:06) – Preludes for piano/ George Gershwin George Gershwin George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known... ;arr. Carlos Barbosa-Lima (5:48) – Clocks/ Joan Tower Joan Tower Joan Tower is a Grammy-winning contemporary American composer, concert pianist and conductor. Lauded by the New Yorker as "one of the most successful woman composers of all time", her bold and energetic compositions have been performed in concert halls around the world... (9:07) – Folk song from English suite : op. 31/ John W. Duarte John W. Duarte John William Duarte was a British composer, guitarist and writer.Duarte was born in Sheffield, England, but lived in Manchester from the age of 6... (4:20) – Nocturnal : op. 70/ Benjamin Britten Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to... (17:53). |
|
| 2. | 2 November 1999 | Dreams of a World | Teldec Teldec The Teldec is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group.-History:... |
3984-25736-2 | 1 CD (DDD) | Folk-inspired Music for Guitar. 8 World Premieres; Music from Appalachia, Ireland, Greece, Israel, Spain, Cuba, Venezuela and Brazil. | |
| 3. | 11 January 2005 | Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Villa-Lobos: Concerto for guitar; Ponce: Concierto del sur | Warner Classics | 2564-60296-2 | 1 CD | With the New York Philharmonic New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"... conducted by José Serebrier José Serebrier José Serebrier is a Uruguayan conductor and composer. He married American soprano Carole Farley in 1969.- Youth :Serebrier was born in Montevideo, and first conducted an orchestra at the age of eleven, while at school. The school orchestra toured the country, which meant he was able to notch up... |
|
| 4. | 5 December 2006 | The Departed | New Line Records New Line Records WaterTower Music is an American record label owned by Time Warner and operates as a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment. Founded to release movie soundtracks, the label has grown beyond this initial purpose and has built a roster of indie rock acts such as The Sounds, OFFICE, Robbers on High... |
39078 | 1 CD | Howard Shore Howard Shore Howard Leslie Shore is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg,... 's soundtrack to Martin Scorsese Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation... 's hit film (Starring Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television... , Jack Nicholson Jack Nicholson John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the... , and Matt Damon Matt Damon Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck... ) |
|
| 5. | 24 March 2009 | Journey to the New World | Sony Classical Sony BMG Masterworks Sony Masterworks is a record label. It is the result of a restructuring of Sony Music Entertainment's classical music division. Before the acquisition of Bertelsmann's shares in the former Sony BMG, the label was known as Sony BMG Masterworks.... |
88697-45456-2 | 1 CD | Also features folk singer Joan Baez Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice.... and violinist Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition... |