Sharon Isbin (born August 7, 1956 in Minneapolis, MN) is a classical guitarist and the founder of the Guitar Department at the Juilliard School (1989). She won a Grammy Award in 2001 for her Dreams of a World: Folk-Inspired Music for Guitar. It was the first classical guitar Grammy in 28 years. She won another in 2002. August 7 is the 219th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (220th in leap years), with 146 days remaining. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the city in Minnesota. ... Official language(s) None Capital Largest city Saint Paul Minneapolis Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 12th 87,014 sq mi  225,365 km² 250 miles  400 km 400 miles  645 km 8. ... Classical guitar A classical guitar, also called a Spanish guitar, is a musical instrument from the guitar family. ... The Juilliard School is recognized as one of the best performing arts conservatories in the world. ... Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards), presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music... The 44th Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 2002. ...

According to her website, Isbin is also the winner of Guitar Player magazine's "Best Classical Guitarist" award and the Madrid Queen Sofia and Toronto Competitions, and was the first guitarist ever to win the Munich Competition. Although her publicity has stated for years that she won the Madrid Queen Sofia Competition, she actually placed second behind Spaniard, Diego Blanco. She also claims to have won the Munich Competition, however, the year she competed, no first prize was given. She did win the Toronto Competition in 1975 in a very controversial decision ahead of Manuel Barrueco.

Isbin has commissioned more concerti than any other guitarist. In classical music, the word concerto (pl. ...

Isbin's catalogue of over 20 recordings ranges from Baroque, Spanish/Latin and 20th century to crossover and jazz-fusion. Bitches Brew (1970) by Miles Davis is considered the most influential early fusion album Jazz fusion (sometimes referred to simply as fusion) is a musical genre that loosely encompasses the merging of jazz with other styles, particularly rock, funk, R&B, and world music. ...

In 1995, her disc was the first ever American guitar concert presented to a Russian cosmonaut during a rendezvous between the space shuttle Atlantis and the Russian spaceship Mir. Also that year, Isbin came out as lesbian in Out. In 2004, she appeared as herself in an episode of The L-Word; in the storyline of the episode, she performed at The Planet and expressed an interest in Bette Porter after the latter's rebound. A lesbian is a girl or woman who is aesthetically, sexually, or romantically attracted to other women. ... Out is a popular gay magazine that focuses mainly on gay and lesbian fashion and upscale culture. ... The L Word is a television drama series airing on Showtime in the United States and Showcase Television in Canada. ...

According to Boston Magazine, Sharon Isbin is the pre-eminent guitarist of our time.

External links

• Sharon Isbin's web site
• A 2003 interview with The Advocate