Sharon Isbin
A | D | diverse
Joan Baez | 2009
“Sharon’s exquisite playing allowed me to revisit and fall in love with these songs all over again.”

International Record Review | 2009
“This new release finds Isbin at her expressive best, her timbral and dynamic shading completely at one with her delicate phrasing, as though inspired by the singing, instrumental or vocal, of her collaborators. The beautiful Wild Mountain Thyme shows off Isbin’s gorgeous tone-colour and cantabile approach to their fullest advantage….Baez breathes life into each and every syllable in a way that many a Lieder singer could only dream of. Isbin proves as sensitive and thoughtful an accompanist as she is a soloist….O’Connor plays alternately with wild energy, wistful nostalgia and bluesy swagger. It’s discs like this that show what ‘cross-over’ can really be.”

Soundstage! | 2009
“One of the most beguiling, supple and charming musical journeys of the year.”

Mark O’Connor | 2009
The beauty and range of Sharon’s guitar creates the perfect musical setting and imagery. America and the guitar have become inseparable in their musical manifestations, and Sharon’s performance on this recording expresses these connections as richly as you will ever hear.”

Graham Wade, Classical Guitar Magazine | 2009
“Sharon Isbin’s superbly lyrical playing endows these folksongs from the British Isles and North America with poetic beauty and enchanting intensity. The singing of Joan Baez is as sweetly evocative as ever. Mark O’Connor’s superb Strings and Threads Suite for violin and guitar, is spectacular, offering brilliant virtuosity in a framework of authentic folk intensity.”

NET Radio Nebraska | April 2009
Hot Pick: “Isbin's playing could not be bettered; her expressive readings are full of intense lyricism and intimate poetry....amazingly sophisticated arrangements.”

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle | 2009
“With this new recording, Isbin proves she is one of the few classical musicians who can find the right grooves and native feel of Americana and English folk music. There's a vitality and excitement to this kind of American roots music that Isbin manages to capture with unwavering precision.” Film Score Monthly | 2009 “This Grammy Award-winner’s latest CD is lovely collection of classical and folk pieces that shows off her virtuoso talents and delicate touch. Joan Baez provides haunting vocals.”

Audiophile Audition | 2009
“The sounds of both instruments are beautifully captured on the recording….I can imagine this CD has very wide appeal, and not just among classical collectors.”

Vintage Guitar | 2009
“Wayfaring Stranger joins her with Joan Baez’s singing, casting a haunting spell. Throughout, the sound of Isbin’s guitar is warm, with a tone both soothing and smooth. It blends with Baez’s voice and O’Connor’s violin like they were destined for each other.”

PopMatters | 2009
“The playing is, as expected, exemplary, and the result is an ambitious, intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable album.”

Fanfare | 2009
“The four Renaissance lute works are a lovely way to open this delightful recital… Joan Baez sings two folk songs with her characteristic pure tone and poignant delivery. John Duarte’s Joan Baez Suite skillfully weaves contrapuntal passages, thematic juxtapositions, occasional dissonance, delicate harmonics, and quotation into a moving tapestry…. In Strings and Threads Suite, O’Connor’s fluid grace and deep affection for the genre are evident in every bar and Isbin has a fine feel for the music….A beautifully played program of instantaneous appeal. Sound is immaculate and lifelike throughout.”

All Music Guide | 2009
“Leave it to an extraordinary musician like Sharon Isbin …definitely a keeper and a disc to return to again and again.”

International Record Review, Juni 2009
This new release finds Isbin at her expressive best, her timbral and dynamic shading completely at one with her delicate phrasing…

Pizzicato, 4/2009 | RéF
[…] ein exquisites Hörvergnügen garantiert.

Classical Guitar Magazine (UK) – Cover Feature, Mai 2009 | Graham Wade
[...] this new issue provides a powerful consolidation of Isbin’s stature on the international scene and a reminder that artistry of the highest order manifests itself in many subtle and unexpected ways. [CD Kritik | JOURNEY TO THE NEW WORLD - Sony Classical 88697-45456-2]

Denver Post Fine Arts Critic, 6.3.2008 | By Kyle MacMillan

In what proves to be a knock-out combination, she merges extraordinary technical facility with a clean, lithe style, and, perhaps most important, the evocative power of a keen storyteller. [...]
Boston Magazine
The pre-eminent guitarist of our time
Atlanta Journal
The Monet of the classical guitar ... a master colorist
BBC Music
Isbin’s fluent virtuosity… this superbly recorded programme [American Landscapes] will leave you wanting for more.
New York Times
In her hands the guitar takes on the precision of a diamond, each note a clear, shining facet that catches, prism-like, a glint of the spectrum.
The Times
Few guitarists have done more to expand the repertoire for their instrument than the brilliant virtuoso Sharon Isbin
Chicago Tribune
Her obviously deep love of the instrument and its traditions is matched by her flawless intonation, clarity of articulation and ability to spin a warm singing line as subtly and sensitively as any classical recital singer.
The Scotsman
Saturday’s capacity turnout at the Queen’s Hall must have pleased the box office. It would be fair to assume that the magnet was top guitarist Sharon Isbin ...
Gramophone
[She] is an exceptionally fine guitarist: her warmly sonorous tone quality (including a beautiful range of colour in quiet playing), her brilliantly crisp articulation and her fine sense of sustained line are no less impressive than her sheer virtuosity.
Boston Globe
...her playing connects in ways that are deeply instinctual and natural, drawing one into the moment like the best storytelling does.
The Herald
Isbin’s command over her guitar is impeccable, left-hand finger dexterity complemented by a subtle strumming motion.
Washington Post
…something well beyond virtuosity.
Stereo Review
There are a lot of guitarists before the public today, but few have the musicality, vision, and sheer gumption of Sharon Isbin.
Gramophone (of her latest CD with the NY Philharmonic)
Three guitar favourites superbly played.
Wall Street Journal
Classical Guitar? She wrote the book.
Chicago Tribune
A pioneer in classical guitar, Isbin continues to break ground.