Acoustic Guitar Magazine Cover story - 7 pages November/December 2023 Six-String Sojourner “Isbin is noted for her onstage charisma and playing with precision, variegated colors, and heartfelt expression. At her GFA concert, she drew the audience inside the music, reveling for long stretches with closed eyes, holding listeners enraptured until the final notes faded ... She has has furthered the goals Segovia long ago envisioned for the guitar. They included elevating it to the status of a classical concert instrument; commissioning contemporary composers to write for it; and establishing guitar performance curricula at conservatories, colleges, and universities.” Read Article (PDF)

Soundboard Magazine Cover Story - 12 pages August 2023 Hall of Fame & Artistic Achievement Award Tributes “As Sharon enters the Hall of Fame for the GFA, we congratulate her on her fantastic career of distinguished concerts, magnificent recordings, and sheer guitar artistry. Sharon is a prodigious talent, one of the great guitarists of our time.”     Graham Wade “Sharon Isbin is one of the most remarkable and inspiring persons I have ever had the fortune to know.”     Antigoni Goni Feature also includes discography and over 80 world premieres-to-date. Read Article (PDF)

Broadway World May 24, 2023 Grammy Winner Sharon Isbin to be Inducted into the 2023 Guitar Foundation of America Hall of Fame “Multiple Grammy winner Sharon Isbin will be inducted into the 2023 Guitar Foundation of America Hall of Fame and receive their Artistic Achievement Award this June. Isbin, the 2020 Musical America Instrumentalist of the Year, will give a solo concert Friday June 23, 8pm at the Manhattan School of Music in celebration of GFA's 50th Anniversary at their annual convention to be held for the first time in New York City.” Read Article (PDF)

Public Radio Tulsa April 12, 2023 A conversation with the celebrated guitarist, Sharon Isbin “Our guest is Sharon Isbin, the well-known guitarist and founding director of the guitar department at the Juilliard School. A multi-Grammy-winning artist, she is often cited as one of the finest classical guitar players of her generation — and she's likewise no stranger to ‘crossover’ projects.” Hear Interview

Tulsa World April 14, 2023 Seven notes that bind us all: Concert shares the healing power of music “One thing that I’ve found so exciting about the concerts we present is that no matter where we perform, we seem to draw audiences from all backgrounds, all walks of life,” Isbin said. “Whether they know classical or Indian music well, or not, they all find something to marvel at and enjoy. They will be experiencing something they have never heard before, and will be swept along by the power, intensity, delicacy and beauty we try to bring to this music.” Read Article (PDF)

StarTribune March 9, 2023 Top American classical guitarist teams with Indian music master in ‘Strings for Peace’ in Minneapolis “Then one day in late 2018, a batch of ragas appeared in Isbin's email inbox. She told Amjad Ali Khan that the works were ‘amazing’. He was happy to hear that because he'd booked a tour of India for two months later. ‘So, I had to move mountains and change things in my schedule to make this possible,’ Isbin explained ... It was her first (and only) trip to India even though she has studied India-rooted transcendental meditation since she was 17. ‘It was an extraordinary adventure to be in a culture that had long fascinated me,’ she said.” Read Article (PDF)

American Jewish World March 9, 2023 Sharon’s Got a Brand-New Bag “Among the many great musicians to come out of the Twin Cities in recent decades, few are as accomplished or critically acclaimed as guitarist Sharon Isbin ... Her upcoming Strings for Peace shows should be the musical events of the season ... Isbin credited Amjad Ali Khan with the success of their musical project. ‘He has developed a way of approaching Western musicians, like me, who have not spent dozens of years studying his culture and its music. By the way he is notating and combining the different worlds, we can skip all of those years of study and immerse immediately into his phenomenal world of music.’” Read Article

Aspen Times Weekly Cover Story August 2022 Strings for Peace: A Harmonious Improvisation “Among the many great musicians to come out of the Twin Cities in recent decades, few are as accomplished or critically acclaimed as guitarist Sharon Isbin ... Her upcoming Strings for Peace shows should be the musical events of the season ... Isbin credited Amjad Ali Khan with the success of their musical project. ‘He has developed a way of approaching Western musicians, like me, who have not spent dozens of years studying his culture and its music. By the way he is notating and combining the different worlds, we can skip all of those years of study and immerse immediately into his phenomenal world of music.’” Read Article (PDF)

WeeklyMagazine Italia June 1, 2022 Chitarra Classica - Intervista a Sharon Isbin “The next world premiere will be this fall when I perform Song of a Dreaming Sparrow for guitar and string quartet composed for me by the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Joseph Schwantner. And this summer, bluegrass banjoist Alison Brown releases an album that includes ‘Regalito’, a delightful tune which she wrote for me to play with her band!” *** English text follows Italian *** Read Article

Guitar Girl Magazine January 2021 Highlights Include PBS Documentary Now Streaming on Amazon; Joan Baez Suite Published by Mel Bay “Sharon Isbin: Troubadour, winner of the coveted ASCAP Television Broadcast Award, can now be streamed for FREE on Amazon Prime, and is also available through Amazon for rent, download, or purchase on DVD and Blu-ray. The video includes the 1-hour award-winning film plus an additional 30 minutes of bonus performances and extra scenes not seen in the documentary... Mel Bay Publications has released Sharon Isbin’s edition of John Duarte’s Joan Baez Suite for solo guitar this month. The work is featured on Isbin’s GRAMMY Award-winning album Journey to the New World (Sony) with Baez.” Read Article

GUITAREN Magazine (Denmark) January 2021 Sharon Isbin exclusive interview with Ole Thestrup Pedersen *** English version starts page 10 of 16 *** “My advice is to seek out the best teachers, follow your passion, work with joy, dedication, diligence, soul, purpose, and the highest standards and respect for the art. Dig deep, listen acutely, contribute something no one has done before, and never be satisfied with surface.” Read Article (PDF)

Guitar Girl Magazine January 2021 A Passionate and Dedicated Teacher and Performer What characteristics does it take for a guitar student at Juilliard to become a professional musician? “Passion and love for music, a personal voice with something unique to offer, creativity, a super-strong work ethic, courage, proactive personality, joy in performing and collaborating with others, humanity, kindness, generosity, and eagerness to learn and grow.” Read Article (PDF)

Acoustic Guitar November/December 2020 Without Boundaries - Sharon Isbin’s Multihued Musical Experience “These two recordings expand a catalog of more than 80 works written or arranged for Isbin—including a dozen concertos. For decades, Isbin’s classical virtuosity has shone in her solo albums and in projects with musicians of diverse backgrounds.” Read Article (PDF)

Rolling Stone June 2020 Amjad Ali Khan, Amaan & Ayaan Ali Bangash Team Up with Sharon Isbin on ‘Strings For Peace’ “A remarkable spiritual and emotional journey ... Combining the guitar and sarod results in an extraordinary blend ... Each of the artists brings the spirit of sharing the great unique treasures of their own artistic traditions.” Read Article Read Article (PDF)

Guitar Girl Magazine September 13, 2020 World-renowned classical guitarist Sharon Isbin on Affinity and Strings for Peace “Titled over a year ago, in the spirit of healing and harmony, we never imagined that Strings for Peace would emerge at a time the world would be suffering from a global pandemic and engulfed in violence. Listeners and reviewers alike have been drawn to the healing and comforting powers of our music, and we feel fortunate to offer this so genuinely from our hearts.” Read Article

TIDAL Magazine August 27, 2020 Sharon Isbin Remembers Julian Bream The classical guitar luminary thinks back on the late maestro’s passion and dedication. “Julian Bream died in his native England on August 14 at age 87. A towering influence in the history of the guitar and lute, Bream expanded the classical guitar’s possibilities in performance and repertoire, and became an admired, dignified public face for his instrument. To pay tribute to his life and work, we asked another of the classical guitar’s most transformative figures, Sharon Isbin, to reflect on Bream, one of her heroes and mentors.” Read Article

Minnesota Public Radio May & June 2020 Sharon Isbin shows her ‘Affinity’ for music around the globe “There’s also a tribute to the late Dave Brubeck. How did Chris Brubeck manage to incorporate that and where we hear it in the piece?” Read Article & Hear Feature   Sharon Isbin forays into Indian Classical music “She's travelled the globe to collaborate with various musicians. One of her recent collaborations took her to India for the first time, and resulted in a project called Strings for Peace.” Read Article & Hear Feature

BBC Music Magazine April 2020 Sharon Isbin is one of the music world’s great collaborators “From Bach masters to Joan Baez, Sharon Isbin refuses to make do with the classical guitar’s traditional repertoire ... A thrilling musician paving the way.” Read Article (PDF)

WINNER MUSICAL AMERICA 2020 INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR AWARD “Sharon Isbin is the first guitarist to be named Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year ... She is a trailblazer, reconfiguring the guitar’s repertoire and updating the ways classical guitarists present themselves and their instrument. She invariably brings a warm tone, precise technique, and a lively but thoughtful interpretive style to her performances.” Read Article

Guitar Girl Magazine March 2020 A conversation with one of the world’s greatest classical guitarists “Boccherini’s famous Fandango quintet, with added castanets and tambourine, was a natural for Pacifica Quartet's passionate, exciting style of playing. When Boccherini's contemporary Casanova first saw a Fandango danced in Madrid, he described it in 1767 as having a ‘lasciviousness with which nothing can compare, a dance of love from beginning to end!’ ... The Quintet by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco is a rarely heard gem, full of lyricism and virtuosity for each instrument.” Read Article

Yale Daily News October 24, 2019 Sharon Isbin Named 2020 Instrumentalist of the Year “Isbin’s years of brilliant performing, teaching and recording stand on their own as great artistic achievements. Her playing continues to inspire us all as she breathes new life to the instrument’s magical existing repertoire and expands it through the numerous compositions that have been written for her. No other guitarist has commissioned, premiered and recorded so many brilliant concerti for the instrument.” Read Article

Guitar Girl Magazine October 15, 2019 GRAMMY Winner Sharon Isbin Honored with 2020 Musical America Instrumentalist of the Year Award “Musical America announced the annual coveted Musical America Awards today which recognizes each year’s stellar performers including multiple GRAMMY Award winner Sharon Isbin who will be honored with the 2020 Instrumentalist of the Year Award, the first guitarist ever to receive the award in its 59-year history...Representing the pinnacle of artistic achievement, previous winners include Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, Vladimir Horowitz, Beverly Sills, George Balanchine, Arthur Rubinstein, Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Marilyn Horne, Andre Previn and Yo-Yo Ma. The ceremony will take place at Carnegie Hall in December.” Read Article

Sharon Isbin & Pacifica Quartet: Souvenirs of Spain & Italy Cedille Records CDR 90000 190 NEW RELEASE: Grammy winners Sharon Isbin and the Pacifica Quartet team up for their first album together in music by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Vivaldi, Turina and Boccherini. “A wonderful recording” (Third Coast Review), “beautiful disc” (WBAI-FM NYC), “Exquisite sonorities ... mesmerizing” (Santiva Chronicle). Tedesco’s Quintet is a seldom-heard gem demanding virtuosity from every player, and Vivaldi’s slow movement features “the beauty of Isbin’s gentle, improvised embellishments.” The celebrated Fandango of Boccherini’s festive Quintet is “a vigorous Spanish dance in which the guitar moves easily between refined detailing and hard-strumming flamenco effects” (Allan Kozinn). ORDER ONLINE from your favorite providers. Visit the Music page to learn more. HEAR PODCAST WATCH VIDEO 1 & WATCH VIDEO 2 LISTEN TO SAMPLES Cover photo: Austin Ward

Minnesota Public Radio October 2019 Sharon Isbin & Pacifica Quartet celebrate musical links between Italy and Spain “Castelnuovo-Tedesco's granddaughter, Diana, lives just a few blocks from me in New York. We got together, and she regaled me with fantastic stories about her grandfather that were so inspiring. She gave us a manuscript copy in his own handwriting of this quintet. We could consult that for notes and the many, many dynamic markings that he wrote in it. I felt like Mario was there and that I was part of the family.” Read Article & Hear Feature

The Epoch Times July 4, 2019 Classical Guitar Showstoppers With Sharon Isbin Headed to Lincoln Center “Isbin will perform the Boccherini Quintet No. 4 and Vivaldi Concerto in D with the Calidore String Quartet at Alice Tully Hall at Manhattan’s Lincoln Center on July 17 ... Isbin has also recently recorded these two pieces with the Pacifica Quartet. The Cedille-label record will be released in August, and also includes a string and guitar quintet by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, who was inspired by Boccherini.” Read Article

Hindustan Times (Cover Story) March 17, 2019 Bringing Cool to Classical “Multiple Grammy-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin on how her first brush with Indian classical music has changed her life forever!” Describing their Peace Tribe performances in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai: “The music Amjad Ali Khan has composed for us is sheer genius, successfully interweaving our varied musical, spiritual and artistic traditions with mystical beauty, grace and great emotion.” Read Article (PDF)

GuitarPlayer September 2018 Sharon Isbin brings new spirit to the music of Federico Garcia Lorca on Alma Española “Masterful renditions of works by Enrique Granados and Francisco Tárrega. Together, Isbin and Leonard bring truth and immortality to García Lorca’s words and music, and in doing so they evoke the very essence of Spanish soul.” Read Article (PDF)

Guitare Classique September 2018 Sharon Isbin - La belle espagnole “La guitare est au coeur du projet. Tous les aires choisis parlent d'amour et d'expériences humaines.” From Guitare Classique #83 (France - September 2018) / Interview by Florent Passamonti See the Article (PNG)

Minnesota Public Radio April 2018 Guitarist Sharon Isbin lives in NYC but stays true to her Minnesota roots “Among the world’s premier classical guitarists, she also is an astute, productive and ever-curious person ... Like when playing flamenco in the gypsy caves and getting lost in the Swiss Alps, Isbin maintains a sense of openness that belies her decades on the international stage.” Read Article

BBC Music Magazine February 2018 Sharon Isbin, Guitarist “... broke the glass ceiling, both for guitar and for women ... I have cultivated a way of playing that is like a human voice” Read Article (PDF)

Classical Guitar Winter 2017 Spanish Souls “Sharon Isbin and Isabel Leonard’s Alma Española is Overflowing with Iberian Spirit ... The blend of Isbin’s guitar and Leonard’s voice is both powerful and exquisite ... It’s a wonderful project in every respect.” Read Article

Guitar Girl Magazine December 9, 2017 Sharon Isbin and Isabel Leonard explore Spanish art songs on Alma Española “Sharon Isbin’s name is synonymous with classical guitar, and while it is the style for which she is best known, her repertoire extends into a remarkable network of artists and projects, from symphonic maestros to the hierarchy of rock and roll.” Read Article

Aspen Times August 5, 2017 Sharon Isbin to perform ‘The Departed’ and more at Aspen Music Festival “There’s really no place like it in the world where you can have such focused concentration on your area of study plus an exposure to amazing musicians from the orchestral world, the vocal world, from chamber music, not to mention the forays into jazz and bluegrass, in a setting that is breathtaking." Read Article

Sharon Isbin im Porträt March 17, 2016 “Sie ist die Gitarrenfrau schlechthin, nicht nur in Amerika, sondern auf der ganzen Welt; sie hat mehr für dieses Instrument getan als jeder Musiker seit dem legendären Andrés Segovia. Sharon Isbins Wohnzimmer ist mit Grammy Awards und anderen Auszeichnungen geschmückt, sie spielt regelmäßig vor ausverkauften Sälen, ihre CDs verkaufen sich millionenfach. Wer Martin Scorceses Thriller “Departed – Unter Feinden” gesehen hat, erinnert sich vielleicht an die eindringliche Gitarrenmusik, von der die Handlung unterstrichen wurde. Das war sie.” Read Article (PDF)

Lake Champlain Weekly (cover story) January 27, 2016 What the Music Brings “She joins the Vermont Symphony Orchestra to perform Chris Brubeck’s Affinity, yet another guitar concerto in her pantheon of commissions. This one blends a lifetime of influences: Brazilian samba, straight ahead jazz, classical structures, Middle Eastern sonorities. One section evolves from a song by the composer’s father, the late piano master Dave Brubeck.” Read Article

Sharon Isbin: Troubadour Documentary Wins 2015 ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Television Broadcast Award! October 7, 2015   Read Article (PDF)

Song Travels October 18, 2015 “Isbin’s mastery is on display as she shares notable recordings of her work and performs from her classical repertoire in this one-hour NPR feature hosted by Michael Feinstein.” Listen Here

Acoustic Guitar May 2015 Smashing Through Glass Ceilings “Isbin is not only the first female classical guitarist to have won a Grammy Award, the only guitarist to record an album with the New York Philharmonic, and the first director of Juilliard’s prestigious guitar department, now, thanks to a new film, she is also the only female classical guitarist to be the subject of a nationally televised documentary.” Read Article (PDF)

Classical Guitar Spring 2015 ‘The Face of Classical Guitar’ “Troubadour traces the career of the guitarist from her early days as a youthful science whiz, who blasted grasshoppers into the abyss on a homemade rocket, to her lofty position, to quote one contemporary in the film as, ‘the face of classical guitar’.” Read Article (PDF)

Making Music May/June 2015 Troubadour Unveils the Mysteries of Classical Guitar “At 17, Isbin began practicing transcendental meditation, which she says helps her in her career. ‘It has so many benefits because it allows you to focus on what is positive in life and be even more creative’.” Read Article (PDF)

Guitar Girl Magazine May 2015 Take Five with Classical Guitar Master Sharon Isbin “The newest project was hatched last month when I premiered a work for guitar and orchestra written for me by Chris Brubeck, son of the late Dave Brubeck. It’s a fabulous, virtuosic, jazzy and Middle Eastern inflected piece, one I look forward to recording and to performing everywhere.” Read Article

Soundboard Spring 2015 Sharon Isbin’s Visionary Legacy “[Her] commitment to new compositions, in the midst of one of the most successful concert careers of any modern classical guitarist, is remarkable. Along with performances on the world’s grandest stages, and in film and television, Isbin has embraced the pursuit of new music with fervor, using her recognition as a pulpit from which to champion these works.” Read Article (PDF)

Teaching Music April 2015 “Music is a valuable part of our culture. It’s as important as studying math or literature, and it should be part of the process of education. Music is really the essence of creating beauty in our world.” Read Article (PDF)

Tavis Smiley Monday February 16, 2015 Sharon Isbin joins celebrated talk show host and author Tavis Smiley on his nationally syndicated PBS television show. Their lively discussion explores how turtles and tapirs shaped her CD of music from the Amazon; how color, lyricism and vibrato create soul; and the new documentary on DVD/Blu-ray, Sharon Isbin: Troubadour. Watch Here

The New York Times January 2, 2015 Sharon Isbin: Seeking Out Serenity “Sharon Isbin’s living room is decorated with two Grammy Awards and a keepsake from her time performing in the Amazon: a handcrafted poison-dart gun. (It does not work.) She lives on the Upper West Side with a view of the Hudson River and of a statue of her heroine, Eleanor Roosevelt. Ms. Isbin, has been a trailblazer both for female musicians and for the guitar’s place in the classical music world.” Read Article

The Wall Street Journal November 26, 2014 Sharon Isbin: Notes From a Classical Guitarist Sharon Isbin, a pioneer in classical guitar, faced a steep career climb, but she refused to accept the possibility of failure “As a guitarist in the classical music world, and as a woman in the guitar community, Ms. Isbin has had a steep climb in her career. This month, American Public Television will release a new documentary called ‘Sharon Isbin: Troubadour’, tracking her rise as a musical pioneer.” Read Article

UTNE Reader January 12, 2015 Celebrating Guitar Virtuoso Sharon Isbin “Sharon Isbin is widely regarded as one of the foremost guitar players in the world. She’s collaborated with and cultivated the respect of musicians from numerous genres outside the classical genre.” Read Article

The Leonard Lopate Show / WNYC New York City January 7, 2015 A New Documentary On The Acclaimed Classical Guitarist, Sharon Isbin Listen

Guitar Player Holiday 2014 Cosmic Traveler “Sharon Isbin Continues Her Musical Journey with Troubadour In the current documentary, Sharon Isbin: Troubadour, First Lady Michelle Obama is seen saying, “Sharon’s father promised her that if she practiced guitar for an hour, she could go outside and launch her model rockets.” Eventually her amazing classical guitar talents would get her music onto actual rockets, on the NASA Space Shuttle as well as the Russian space station Mir. Talk about a trajectory. For the uninitiated, there has simply never been a better time to discover why so many people call Isbin ‘the world’s premier classical guitarist’.” Read Article (PDF)

NPR / Here & Now December 4, 2014 Sharon Isbin, Guitarist Extraordinaire “Sharon Isbin: Troubadour”, a documentary on her career, is airing through March on public television stations around the country. Isbin brought her guitar along and told Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd why she thinks the guitar is “one of the most extraordinary instruments.” The show is broadcast on over 380 stations to 3.6 million listeners. Read Article & Listen

Minnesota Public Radio November 19, 2014 New Classical Tracks: Sharon Isbin’s Five Classic Albums “Sharon Isbin, a pioneering classical guitarist—who is out of this world. Grammy Award-winning Isbin is talking about her legacy, which has recently been chronicled in, Troubadour, a one-hour documentary. Five of Isbin's classic recordings have been packaged into a new CD set corresponding with the film, which explores what it takes to nurture a dream against all odds to become a world-class musician.” Read Article & Listen

Pollstar November 17, 2014 The Passion of Sharon Isbin Sharon Isbin talks to Pollstar about Sharon Isbin: Troubadour, airing now on public television stations. The film gives a look at how the Grammy Award-winning musician, who has been called the “pre-eminent guitarist of our time” and “the Monet of the classical guitar,” broke into the world of classical music as well as the male-dominated field of guitarists. Read Article

GRAMMY-Winning Guitarist Sharon Isbin Will Be The Subject of a Documentary, To Be Broadcast Nationally On Television Nov-Dec October 10, 2014 Sharon Isbin: Troubadour explores the trailblazing performer’s extraordinary career, with guests including Michelle Obama, Joan Baez, Martina Navratilova and more.   “She has broken every glass ceiling for guitar and for women in her field.” Read Article

Guitar World October 2014 Sharon Isbin Talks “Troubadour” Documentary and More “Sharon Isbin: Troubadour is a wonderful piece that artfully shares this artist’s passion for musical creation and exploration. Isbin has a pioneering spirit, and has often found a way around obstacles and embraced genre-bending projects.” Read Article

Examiner.com April 12, 2014 ‘Sharon Isbin: Troubadour’ documents the ‘fearless’ classical guitarist Following Thursday’s New York premiere of the 57-minute documentary Sharon Isbin: Troubadour for a full house at Lincoln Center's Bruno Walter Auditorium, its producer Susan Dangel, calling Isbin a “one-of-a-kind artist”, invoked the “fearless” tag ascribed to her in the film by composer Tan Dun. Read Article

GRAMMY.COM February 2014 GRAMMY Hall of Fame Inspirations: Sharon Isbin From Elvis Presley to Andres Segovia, GRAMMY-Winning Classical Guitarist Reveals Five GRAMMY Hall of Fame Recordings That Connect Her Musical Dots Read Article

San Jose Mercury News February 19, 2014 Flashing Her Passion for Guitar “Fans of Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin should thank the gods of classical guitar her older brother didn’t want to grow long fingernails... Genre-stretching jaunts like the one she is engaged in now with Jordan and Lubambo prompted the Washington Post to credit her with pushing the guitar ‘into provocative, edgy new realms’.” Read Article

Portland Performing Arts Festival June 2012 Watch Sharon Isbin in concert on Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s Maine Arts! Presents: Guitarist Sharon Isbin at the Portland Performing Arts Festival in a one hour television program archived online. Watch Video

Enlightenment - The Transcendental Meditation Magazine June 2012 An Interview with Sharon Isbin: The Monet of Classical Guitar “As a musician, TM enhances my mental stamina, memory, concentration, and ability to learn. It puts me in touch with my innermost creative core and enables its expression through music.” Read Article

Guitare Classique June-August 2012 (#57) La Passion Selon Sharon Guitar Passions (Sony) célèbre la guitare sous toutes ses formes, sur fond d’ambiance latine. FRENCH Read Article (PDF)

NPR’s All Things Considered December 27, 2011 The ‘Guitar Passions’ of Sharon Isbin & Steve Vai “Her new album, Guitar Passions, features collaborations between Isbin—who studied with Andres Segovia, among others—and artists with very unclassical careers ...” Read Article & Listen

Minnesota Public Radio January 20, 2012 “She plays like a goddess and frankly, she looks like one too! Sharon joined me today on air to share a few tracks from her latest disc and talk about playing the Rodrigo this weekend.” Listen

The Guitar Show Sharon Isbin Interview #2 December 22, 2011 “In our exclusive interview, Isbin takes us behind the scenes of her newest release, Guitar Passions, which features eight guest artists, including guitarists Romero Lubambo, Steve Vai, Stanley Jordan, Steve Morse & Nancy Wilson.” Listen

Musos Magazine November 2011 Sharon Isbin “How did a kid from Minneapolis, Minnesota with a passion for rocket science come to create The Juilliard School’s first guitar department, win Grammys, record with the New York Philharmonic, Joan Baez, and most recently a CD with rock and jazz legends Steve Vai, Stanley Jordan, and Nancy Wilson of Heart titled Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar Passions?” Read Article (PDF)

Classical Guitar November 2011 Sharon Isbin “Isbin is ahead of the curve with Guitar Passions, perhaps in the running for another Grammy, and once again pushing the envelope to the benefit of us all.” Read Article (PDF)

Guitar Player November 2011 Sharon Isbin “Sharon Isbin isn’t your average internationally renowned, multiple Grammy Award winning, Billboard chart-topping female classical guitarist.” Read Article (PDF)

BBC Radio 4 November 2011 Sharon Isbin “Legendary guitarist, singer and songwriter, Joan Armatrading meets Sharon Isbin, America’s leading Classical guitarist and winner of 2 Grammys.” Listen

WRTI’s Crossover October 2011 Classical Guitarist Sharon Isbin Join Jill Pasternak as she interviews multiple Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin. Her latest CD, Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar Passions is highlighted. Listen to Interview

Ariama September 2011 Sharon Isbin, Passionate Guitarist “Sharon Isbin is one of the great guitarists. Her repertoire is vast and her discography enormous. Guitar Passions features some of her favorite music from Spain and Latin America.” Read Article

ABC - Paraguay September 1, 2011 Sharon Isbin y Steve Vai grabaron ‘La catedral’ Grandes de la guitarra interpretan a Barrios “Los guitarristas Sharon Isbin y Steve Vai tocan juntos La catedral de Agustin Barrios, en el nuevo disco de Isbin Guitar Passions.” Read Article (PDF)

San Francisco Classical Voice January 3, 2011 Sharon Isbin: Voyager on Six Strings “I notice that when you play, you sometimes are almost in a trancelike state. It's very beautiful to watch. Does this have anything to do with your practice of Transcendental Meditation?” Read Article (PDF)

Albany Times-Union March 11, 2010 Guitar star Isbin teams with violinist O’Connor “Although widely regarded as the top classical guitar soloist of our time, she keeps teaming up with other artists, often far afield from the traditional realm of so-called concert music.” Read Article (PDF)

The Orange County Register December 6, 2009 Guitarist who played for the Obamas will play in O.C. “She has commissioned ten concertos for her instrument ... by the likes of Tan Dun, John Corigliano, Christopher Rouse and Lukas Foss.” Read Article

BBC Music Magazine November 2009 Sharon Isbin The American guitarist reveals the inspirations behind her latest CD, Journey to the New World “Originally I wanted to honour Joan Baez as she was one of my folk-music heroes, so I asked John Duarte to write the Joan Baez Suite.” Read Article

Guitare Classique October 2009 Sharon Isbin, En mode majeur FRENCH Read Article (PDF)

Guitarist Classic July 2009 Sharon Isbin, La lady aux cordes nylon FRENCH Read Article (PDF)

NPR’s All Things Considered June 4, 2009 Guitarist Sharon Isbin’s American ‘Journey’ “... the renowned classical guitarist, recently sat down with NPR’s Robert Siegel to play songs and talk about her new album, Journey to the New World ...” Read Article & Listen

Classical Guitar Magazine May 2009 Sharon Isbin “The longer I know Sharon Isbin, the more I am amazed by the scope of her career.” Read Article (PDF)

Il Venerdi di Repubblica May 2009 Sharon Isbin, La lady aux cordes nylon ITALIAN Read Article (PDF)

Orlando Sentinel February 2009 Guitar Goddess Grammy winner Sharon Isbin headlines Winter Park’s 74th annual Bach Festival “Guitar gods are still strictly rock theology, but if the term were applied in the classical realm, Sharon Isbin would be fit for deification.” Read Article (PDF)

Boston Globe October 15, 2004 A pioneer in classical guitar, Isbin continues to break ground “She has this voracious musical curiosity that feeds her imagination, and she is charismatic in all the best ways...” Read Article

Fanfare May/June 2004 ‘Ms. Guitar, Inc.’: A Chat With Sharon Isbin “Isbin has helped to spread the gospel of the classical guitar through concerts, broadcasts, television appearances, and interviews in non-specialist publications such as Elle and People.” Read Article

The Wall Street Journal July 10, 2003 “Classical Guitar? She Wrote the Book “... the classical guitar lingered at the edge of standard concert life—till now. The change is due largely to the American guitarist Sharon Isbin.” Read Article

Schwann Jazz & Classical August 2001 Sharon Isbin Reworks the Repertoire “Isbin’s life with the guitar was international from the beginning. She took up the instrument in Italy at the age of nine ...” Read Article (PDF)

Musicians Friend August 22, 2001 Commissioned Response: Sharon Isbin “Isbin is one of the most adventurous classical guitarists to come along in years.” Read Article

The New York Times Sunday, July 22, 2001 Sharon Isbin Coolly Carries the Torch for the Classical Guitar “In her hands the guitar takes on the precision of a diamond, each note a clear, shining facet that catches, prismlike, a glint of the spectrum.” Read Article

Town & Country June 2001 The Busy Ms. Isbin “Isbin’s CD Dreams of a World not only displaced The 3 Tenors: Paris 1998 from near the top of the classical-music charts ... it won a Grammy award in February—the first won by a classical guitarist in almost thirty years.” Read Article

Associated Press May 30, 2001 Guitarist Isbin Steps Out of Shadows “... while Isbin is among the world’s elite classical players, what really sets her apart is the dogged commissioning of new concerti for guitar and orchestra.” Read Article

NPR’s All Things Considered May 4, 2001 Sharon Isbin “Robert Siegel interviews Sharon Isbin, a sensation in the world of classical guitar. This year, Isbin became the first classical guitarist to win a Grammy award in nearly three decades, for her CD Dreams of a World.” READ & LISTEN

Chicago Tribune May 30, 2000 Sharon Isbin is at the Pinnacle of a Macho Tradition “One of the world’s preeminent virtuosos of the classical guitar, Isbin is the first woman to reach the pinnacle of the solo guitar world.” Read Article

Boston Globe February 14, 1999 In the Tradition: Sharon Isbin’s New and Old Guitar Music “In the 1980s, she embarked on a collaboration with the eminent Bach pianist Rosalyn Tureck that revolutionized the way Bach is interpreted on the guitar ...” Read Article

ELLE Magazine June 1996 Sharon Isbin, unplugged “Isbin’s virtuosity has attracted admirers throughout the music world ...” Read Article