by Mike Telin
In an appearance on the Tavis Smiley show, celebrated classical guitarist Sharon Isbin said that she came to the instrument by accident. “Our family was living in Italy when I was nine years old, and when an older brother said he wanted guitar lessons — and my parents learned there was a famous teacher who commuted to our village from Milan who was touring all over Italy and had studied with Segovia — they brought my brother for the interview. He said, ‘What? Classical? No, no, I want to be Elvis Presley.’ He bowed out before the first lesson, and out of family duty I volunteered to take his place.” The rest is history.
The winner of two Grammy Awards and Guitar Player magazine’s “Best Classical Guitarist,” Isbin has appeared as soloist with over 170 orchestras and has given sold-out performances in the world’s finest halls. Her documentary Troubadour has been viewed by millions of people on over 200 television stations.
On Saturday, November 4 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society will present Sharon Isbin in her Cleveland debut as part of its International Series. [Read more…]
Departing from its normal Saturday evening time slot, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society closed its International Series with a duo recital by Sérgio and Odair Assad on Sunday afternoon, April 30 at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights. Though their styles of playing are different, the Brazilian-born brothers have been performing as a duo for 52 years, and know each other so well that they could probably play a recital blindfolded.
