Sharon Isbin is an American classical guitarist and the founding director of the guitar department at the Juilliard School.

Personal life and education

Sharon Isbin was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to attorney Katherine Brudnoy and Herbert S. Isbin, a nuclear scientist and professor at the University of Minnesota. She began her guitar studies at age nine with Aldo Minella in Varese, Italy. 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 landmark first performance editions of the Bach lute suites for guitar, published by G Schirmer, and recorded by Isbin as Complete Bach Lute Suites on Warner Classics. Isbin created and directs the guitar departments at the Aspen Music Festival and the Juilliard School. She began practicing Transcendental Meditation at age 17. She received a B.A. cum laude from Yale University and a Master of Music (M.M.) 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 those written for her by John Corigliano, Tan Dun, Aaron Jay Kernis, Joseph Schwantner, Lukas Foss, Chris Brubeck, Christopher Rouse and Karen LeFrak. In 2005, Isbin performed a world premiere of Blossom Suite along with the composer, rock guitarist Steve Vai. Her earliest crossover collaborations began with Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida and jazz guitarist Larry Coryell. In 2014, she performed a 20-city Guitar Passions tour with jazz musicians Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo. In 2015, she performed with Josh Groban on PBS's Billy Joel: Gershwin Prize concert, and in February 2015 she was featured on the Tavis Smiley PBS television series. Among more than 80 works composed for her which she has premiered are solo and chamber works by Joan Tower, David Diamond, Ned Rorem, Howard Shore, John Duarte, Leo Brouwer, Joseph Schwantner, Amjad Ali Khan and Bruce MacCombie. New York's Carnegie Hall and Chicago's Harris Theater commissioned composer Richard Danielpour to write a song cycle for Isbin and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Carnegie Hall. She has premiered over 80 works by world-renowned composers. Isbin's catalogue of over 35 albums has sold over one million copies ranging from Baroque music, Spanish/Latin, and 20th century to crossover and jazz fusion. Her most recent releases are LIVE IN ASPEN (2024), AFFINITY: World Premiere Recordings, and STRINGS FOR PEACE: Premieres for Guitar & Sarod with Amjad Ali Khan, both of which were named Best of 2020 by NPR, SiriusXM, and multiple media. Her Souvenirs of Spain & Italy (Cedille) with the Pacifica Quartet debuted at number two on the Billboard charts and at number one 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 won the 2015 ASCAP Television Broadcast Award. In October 2014, Warner Classics released a 5-CD box set of her most popular albums titled Sharon Isbin: 5 Classic Albums. Her 2011 release, Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar Passions (Sony), became a bestseller on Amazon.com and includes guest artists Steve Vai, Stanley Jordan, Nancy Wilson, Steve Morse, Romero Lubambo, Rosa Passos, Thiago de Mello, and Paul Winter.

Awards and nominations

Isbin has been regarded as "the pre-eminent guitarist of our time". Isbin has also won the following awards: Isbin's winning of the Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year made her the first guitarist in the award's history to do so. She was the first guitarist to win the Munich ARD International Competition. Her album Journey to the Amazon received a 1999 Grammy nomination for "Best Classical Crossover Album", and the album on which she appeared playing Aaron Jay Kernis' Double Concerto with violinist Cho-Liang Lin and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra received a 2000 Grammy nomination for "Best Contemporary Classical Composition" for Kernis' Air for Violin. Isbin won a Grammy Award in 2001 for her work in Dreams of a World: Folk-Inspired Music for Guitar (Warner Classics), becoming the first classical guitarist to win a Grammy in 28 years. On September 11, 2002, Isbin's performed for the memorial tribute at Ground Zero, which was televised live. Her world premiere concertos, written for her by Christopher Rouse and Tan Dun, won a Grammy in 2002. She received a 2005 Latin Grammy nomination for "Best Classical Album" and a 2006 GLAAD Media Award nomination for "Outstanding Music Artist" for her recording of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with the New York Philharmonic. The recording also featured concertos by Mexican composer Manuel Ponce and Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos. Isbin was the first guitar soloist to perform with the New York Philharmonic in 26 years. This was the orchestra's first-ever recording with the guitar. In 2010, Isbin won another Grammy Award for the Best Instrumental Soloist in her CD, Journey to the New World (Sony). The album spent 63 consecutive weeks on Billboard charts and ranked as the number one bestselling classical CD on Amazon and iTunes during that time. In November 2009, Isbin performed a concert at the White House by invitation of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. In 2010, Isbin won another Grammy Award for the Best Instrumental Soloist in her CD, Journey to the New World (Sony). The album spent 63 consecutive weeks on Billboard charts and ranked as the number one bestselling classical CD on Amazon and iTunes during that time.

Teaching and other work

In 1989, Isbin created the Master of Music degree, Graduate Diploma, and Artist Diploma for classical guitar at the Juilliard School, becoming the founding director of their 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. Isbin is the author of the Classical Guitar Answer Book, and is the director of the Guitar Department at the Aspen Music Festival. On November 5, 2015, the David Lynch Foundation organized 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.

Awards

Grammy

Other awards

Discography