SPRING 2015 CLASS MARC RIBOT HONORS HAITIAN GREAT FRANTZ CASSEUS WHO ISTHE HEXT PACO? MASTER LUTHIER KENHVMILL SF CE>~SEJlfA'TO]lY'f. , . , GUITAR PROGRAM " TURNS SO ~Jw..~": . '":,.~ ~~-:; .: ,:, '~ ,. SH ISBI 0 CLASSJCALGU ITAA.MAGA.Z IH G,COM TROUBADOUR DOCUMENTARY SHINES LIGHT ON SHARON ISBIN-'T I:"' OF CLASSICAL GUITA by Jason Wal.sh It was the day The ghost or lsbln past may have Sharon lsbin possessed different qualities than the reflective \,•oman she is today, but if met Sharon lsbin. there are t\.\•o thi ngs this tvlianesota na· Or rather. it was the acclaimed guitarist's live h~s never lacked, they are determi· mon1ent of reckoni.ngd uring the making nation and focus. of Sharon /sbi11:Troubadour, t he new doc­ In Uie film . she is described by vari­ 11 umentary 011 the life and career of one ous friends as '·intense,'" •·c.hal lenging, of classical music's most renowned gul­ a "firebr;:ind." tarj sts. Her New York apartment neighbor, It .started \\•ith Tr<Jubadour film­ David Hyde Pierce, calls her "a night­ maker Susan Dangel's vision that the mare," Uiough the Frasier star 's tongue dot:u,nentary would include specific was planted firm ly ln cheek. archival material from the guitarist's Still, as Troubadourn1akes c ·le.:ir, fe\\' career- and one such ccquest v.1as have r isen from the icy sidewalk,, of decndes-old footage fron1 \\ihen lsbin 1960s rvliuneapolis to perforrHing a solo pren1iered the first 1A1ork ever \'{ritten concert before the Obama family at the for her. White House without a llttle Intensity. Easier said than done- it \Vas a live Premiering through American Public broadcasi.. shO\YO35 years ago on Israeli Television last fall, and now available on television. lsbln herself had oever even DVD and Blu-ray, Sharon /shin: Trouba­ seen "ii. dour traces the career of the clas;;ica) But following some extensive guitar ist rr o,u her early days as a youth­ cross·globaJ digging, a tape emerged ful science whiz. Wlw blasted [l'rasshop­ frorn a television station in Jerusalen1. pers into the abyss on II homemade And for the firs t time, lsbln, age 58. rocket .. to her lofty positio n, to quote watched lsbin, 2 1, emerge on the Inter­ one t.onternporary in the filrn as... the national scene-as not only one o( the face of classical guitar." few feinales ln the genre, but, as some Along the way she studi ed wlUi \VOulcl say, the future orclassica l guitar. Andres Segovia, collaborated with some "ll was amazing," says lsbln. "It felt of the finest n1usicians on I he plan­ like I was seelag anoU1er person- and et, took home n1ultiple Gra1nn1ys, and yet that was me. There was youthlu l founded l he guitar program al Juill iard. energy. and innocence. <.lnd de termini.l· She still h<1lds no quarter for the tion- and, oh ,ny focus." grasshoppers. Classical Guital' asked the nylon-stri ng over collaboration ,.,,as \'11ith l..J.urinrlo Therefore do _vousee your ll!gaeyr1s belng firebra nd about Troubadour and her Almeida and Larry Coryell; we were in· Jess aboul youJ' playing.and mol'e abo ut place in the wo rld of classical guitar •.. vilecl to perform together at a concert . conun;ssioningof ne,.o works? They made sure the arrangement or mu­ Oh. i think sq. Because when you sec sic would match each ol our particular what is left behind a[Ler a [m uslcian·s] Whal were you hoping lo see in a docu· styles of playing and tvc;n composed mu­ lifetime. you can't go hear them perform me111aryobour yourself? sic for us, And \I/hat \Ve thought would anymore. But the recordings and the I thoug ht it \\las importa nt to sho ,v son1e be a one-shot deal lasted for five y~ars works that they have writte n for Lhem or the kinds of collaboratio ns that were of touring and recor ding. if you try to ex­ ,.,,ill last an eternity. So, for rne, it's very unique and changedt he course of ::i.nin ­ plore because you Lhink ll will be a com­ import ant Lhat a lil m llke this can en­ strwnent~ ln n1y case. 11- hacl heen \\'Hh mercial success. that"s really Lhe wrong courage oUier guitar ists to play this mu· some or the notable composers or our ,vay to go about It. It h._1sto be organic sic and become CJ<posed to it. lt's very ti111e,John Cori gliano, Tan Dun, Chris and authentlc and with n lot of integrity. different listening to a re<!Or<;ling versus Rouse. Joan Tower. Steve Vai, and many seeing the visllal of nn interacUon. And others. IL was an opporLunlty Lo give In //le filtn you say, classical guit({r 1'is an I think that if there's one tlll ng thal hap­ people a cha.rice Lo be a Oy on the wall irJ$frU1nentthat has IJadIO catch up." /-las pens from this fil m, ii ,,111be that these ancl gel a glimpse of what this special it caught up yet? wo rks wi ll be showcased in a way that alche1ny is like and ho,.,,i t happens in a I thi nk that's a process that will continue \Viii give then1 internc.,tional exposure ve ry spontaneous ,vay. beyond my lifetime. The reason for that and Inspire others to pursue projects Is it's a ne\ver inst rument and has had none of us have ever thOufihL or belor e. Cross-genrec0Uobo 1'<.1tions Ote nothins more challenges to deal wlth-lnciucl lng ne,v-but they .~een1 10 be increasing e.\"· sound reinforcen,ent. I don· L feel 1·hafs That's one aduarrtageclassica l n1u!;ichas ponentially in classicaln1usic . How i11r­ a challenge anymore. But when you con· ove r pop 1nusic-in thOI p opular music is portan1are such so10urr,s in ttiinningneu.1 sider son,e of th_e greaLco 1np osers of our so tied 10 a /.>articular perfonnl!r. People audiences and reinuigoraring reperroire ? Llm~ho 1>in, Mozart. Beethoven-L hey don 'r necessarily want lo hear the luin­ The funny U1ingis . I've never done any dldn 't \Vrite for the guHar, so ,ve'vc. had dreds of awful V<!rsions of ··Yesrerdoy" of these projects with a commercial to create our O\Yn Jiterature. 1·nat's\•.r hy that ha1Je been recort:Jed-t hey just Jl)ant Lhougbt. It all came from a love of the it's so i1n portant to n1eL o , ...ork ,vith ex­ rhc Beatles' origi nal. Whereas classical n,uslc and a chance encounte r \vith a traordinary co1nposers to continue to is more about u;hether the composiffons great artist '"ho asked to ,vo rk \vith rne. create ne,v repertoire. l'n1 still the only stand /he rest of tim e. guitarist ever to have recorded an a.1- Thai's interesting. And I Lhink you're 11wasn't a/wuys so easy. bum with the New York Phllharrnonlc. So right. It really iS Uie core of whaL I think Crossover used to be considered a dirty clearly the instr ument is still in Its pio­ is the essence or classical mvsic-t he \YOrd. The fil'St t·ime I ever did a cross· neering phase. n1usi<.:itself . The artist is certai nly part o( the creative process, but we will al­ \vayshave the music. As the first tvo,nall 10 achieve n1ossiue success i,~ a previously rnole-do1ninated arena, you're often cited as being a role model for young tvome11. Is that something you 're consciou$or in a day-10-<layway? 'Crossover used to be When It hits home is when people come up to me alter a performance and say, "I considered a dirty word •••• 1,vasinsp ired to play the guitar because or you." I think that having gro,vn up in a tin1e ,.,,hen there '"ere so {i?v,.,feina le It has to be organic players or any sty le of guJtar- to show up al the Aspen Music Festival and be and authentic and with only one or Lwo females out of 50 guiLat students, I mean those are pretty Upped a lot of integrity.' odds over there- I U1ink it's really greal when young girls have a ohance Lo see RONISBIN that Lhey can do it. too. 30 Spring 2015 TROUBADOUR SHARON AN D FRIENDS Sharon wilh (cloch,vise)Jo~n B ae1., Parily thanks 10 you. there ore a number ~lnrtinSc(trsese, S teve Vai, of rising.star female classical guitarb;tf;­ and~ larkO'Con nor. is there anyb6dy y6 u're particularly i",. pressed with? One of yuur Juilliard st(lder,ts it>th e mov­ A11UgoniGo ni studied with me al .Juil­ ie said, ''Sludyi11g loi1h Sharon is a very liarrJ. She was one of the winners or the challenging arul inte.n.-.e e:rperience. " Guitar Foundation of America lnterna· Why do ynu thin/, he sa id that ? lion al Competitio n, and she's gone on tel Because I rt:alJy t!xpect a lot (rou1 U1enl. have a wond erful career. Bokyuug Byun The stud ents I cJ1oose have extrao rdi­ Sharo n lsbi n isn't just a and Alberta Khoury are outsta nding stu­ nary talent. I know they can accomp lish subject of Amotlcan Publle dents well on their way. It is intcr~.sting grea t things, and I ,vant to bring that oul.