Sharon Isbin To Perform Corigliano Concerto With American Composers Orchestra, 5/23

Multiple GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin will perform John Corigliano's Troubadours: Variations for Guitar & Orchestra, written for Isbin, with the American Composers Orchestra on May 23at Symphony Space at 8pm. The balance of the program, conducted by Rossen Milanov, will include a New York premiere by Bright Sheng and two world premieres by Nina C. Young and Carlos Simon.

John Corigliano's Troubadours: Variations for Guitar & Orchestra was written and commissioned for Sharon Isbin who gave the world premiere with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Their world premiere recording for EMI/Angel received many honors, including Guitar Player's Best Classical Album award, and Gramophone's Critics' Choice Recording of the Year. Isbin has given over 80 performances of the work throughout the world.

The inspiration of the concerto is the beautiful tradition of the French troubadours. Corigliano fashions his free-form variations from a troubadour-like melody he wrote that ends with a fragment of a song by the Countess Beatriz de Dia, a famous late 12-century troubadour from Provencal France.

The Philadelphia Inquirer hailed the work as "a time-warp melding of the composer's 20th-century harmonies and a 12th-century troubadour melody. Amid novel effects like an offstage wind band, the piece also has integrity, an interior balance of invention, logic and drama - the climax is fabulously apocalyptic - that make it a miniature opera without words."

This spring will see the release of the first all-Spanish recording of its kind in 40 years with multiple GRAMMY winning Argentinian-American vocalist Isabel Leonard. Duos by Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatge, Agustín Lara and Joaquín Rodrigo, with guitar solos by Granados and Tárrega, are all works that evoke the rich, magnificent tradition of Spanish guitar. The recording includes twelve world premiere arrangements by Isbin.

Acclaimed as "the pre-eminent guitarist of our time," Ms. Isbin has been the soloist with over 170 orchestras and given sold-out performances in the world's finest halls. Recent highlights include a concerto written for her by Chris Brubeck, a commission for her by Carnegie Hall for their 125th anniversary, a 21-city Guitar Passions tour with jazz greats Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo, triumphant performances with the Detroit Symphony and National Symphony, as well as sold-out concerts at the Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, Carnegie Hall and the Aspen Music Festival. She appeared twice in Carnegie Hall last season: with Sting, Katy Perry and Jerry Seinfeld, and in recital with Isabel Leonard.

Sharon Isbin is the subject of an exciting one-hour documentary presented by American Public Television which also discusses the history behind John Corigliano's Troubadours concerto. Seen by millions on over 200 PBS stations throughout the US, it is also available on DVD/Blu-ray and won the 2015 ASCAP Television Broadcast Award. Sharon Isbin: Troubadour paints the portrait of a trailblazing performer and teacher who over the course of her career has broken through numerous barriers to rise to the top of a traditionally male-dominated field. The following is a dedicated website where you can learn more: www.SharonIsbinTroubadour.com

Her latest of 25 recordings, 5 Classic Albums and Guitar Passions have been #1 bestsellers. Her 2010 GRAMMY-winning Journey to the New World spent 63 consecutive weeks on top Billboard charts, and her Rodrigo Aranjuez with the New York Philharmonic received a Latin GRAMMY nomination.

Photo: J Henry Fair