SHARON ISBIN
Acclaimed for her extraordinary lyricism, technique and versatility, multiple Grammy Award winner Sharon Isbin was named the 2020 Musical America Worldwide Instrumentalist of the Year, the first guitarist ever to receive the coveted honor in its 59-year award history. Soloist with over 200 orchestras, Isbin has performed in the world’s finest halls across 40 countries. Winner of the Toronto, Madrid and Munich ARD Competitions, Germany’s Echo Klassik and Guitar Player’s Best Classical Guitarist awards, she performed in Scorsese’s Oscar-winning The Departed, at Ground Zero for the first internationally televised 9/11 memorial, the White House by invitation of President Obama, and as the only classical artist in the 2010 Grammy Awards. The documentary Sharon Isbin: Troubadour, seen by millions on over 200 PBS stations across the U.S. and abroad, won the ASCAP Television Broadcast Award. Recent highlights include a commission for her byCarnegie Hall, a 21-city Guitar Passions tour, sold-out concerts at the Kennedy Center,Kimmel Center, and at Carnegie Hall including a collaboration with Sting.
Isbin’s catalogue of over 30 albums, from Baroque, Spanish/Latin and 20th Century to crossover and jazz-fusion, have sold nearly a million copies and reflect her remarkable versatility. Her two 2020 critically-acclaimed bestsellers feature music composed for her in world premiere recordings: Affinity showcases Chris Brubeck’s dazzling concerto for guitar and orchestra, along with works by Brouwer, Tan Dun, Lauro, and Danielpour; and Strings for Peace, with India’s legendary Amjad Ali Khan in a program of ragas for guitar, sarod and tabla. Her 2019 album with the Pacifica Quartet, Souvenirs of Spain & Italy with music by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Boccherini, Vivaldi and Turina, debuted at #1 on Amazon and #2 on Billboard. Her Grammy-winning Journey to the New World with guests Joan Baez and Mark O’Connor spent 63 consecutive weeks on top Billboard charts. Isbin’s Dreams of a World earned her a Grammy for Best Instrumental Soloist, making her the first classical guitarist to receive the award in 28 years. Her recording of concerti composed for her by Christopher Rouse and Tan Dun was honored with a Grammy, and her Rodrigo Aranjuez/Ponce/Villa-Lobos concerti with the New York Philharmonic, their only recording with a guitar soloist, received a Latin Grammy nomination. Her Alma Española # 1 bestseller with opera star Isabel Leonard is the first Spanish art song album with guitar of its kind in 40 years. It includes twelve world premiere arrangements by Isbin, and was honored with a 2018 Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Classical in recordings by David Frost. Other recent #1 bestselling titles include Sharon Isbin: 5 Classic Albums, and Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar Passions with rock and jazz guests Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo.
Author of the Classical Guitar Answer Book, Isbin has premiered over 80 works written and arranged for her by some of the world’s finest composers. She directs the guitar departments at the Aspen Music Festival and The Juilliard School, which she created in 1989. Visit: www.sharonisbin.com
