Sharon Isbin
Artist biography

Sharon Isbin

Acclaimed for her extraordinary lyricism, technique and versatility, multiple GRAMMY Award winner Sharon Isbin has been hailed as “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time.”

About 

Sharon Isbin

Acclaimed for her extraordinary lyricism, technique and versatility, multiple GRAMMY Award winner Sharon Isbin has been hailed as “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time.” Winner of Guitar Player’s Best Classical Guitarist award, Germany’s Echo Klassik, and the Munich, Toronto and Madrid international competitions, she has appeared as soloist with nearly 200 orchestras. She has given sold-out performances in many of the world’s finest halls, including New York’s Carnegie and Geffen Halls, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, London’s Barbican and Wigmore Halls, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Paris’ Châtelet, Vienna’s Musikverein, Munich’s Herkulessaal, and Madrid’s Teatro Real. She created and directed festivals for Carnegie Hall, the Ordway Theatre (St. Paul), New York’s 92nd Street Y, and the national radio series Guitarjam.

Other recent highlights include tours with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Austria’s Tonkünstler Orchestra and Belgium’s Philharmonique de Liege, a week of performances at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, MIDEM Classical Awards in Cannes, a 21-city Guitar Passions tour with jazz greats Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo, collaborations with Sting, tours with the Pacifica Quartet, performances with the Detroit, National and Montreal Symphonies, and sold-out recitals in Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center and the Kennedy Center.

Sharon Isbin began her guitar studies at nine in Italy, later studying with Andrés Segovia, Oscar Ghiglia, and Rosalyn Tureck with whom she collaborated on landmark editions/recordings of the Bach lute suites for guitar (Warner Classics/G. Schirmer). She authored the Classical Guitar Answer Book, and directs guitar departments at the Aspen Music Festival and The Juilliard School, which she created in 1989.

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