Sharon Isbin

Grammy-winning guitarist & founding director of guitar at Juilliard

Student of

Andres Segovia

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Biography

Sharon Isbin began guitar studies at age nine in Italy and went on to study with Andres Segovia, Oscar Ghiglia, and Bach scholar Rosalyn Tureck. She earned her B.A. and Master of Music from Yale University.

In 1989, she founded the guitar department at the Juilliard School — the first in its 100-year history. She has appeared as soloist with over 200 orchestras across 40 countries, and her collaboration with Ustad Amjad Ali Khan produced the album Strings for Peace (2020), featuring ragas composed specifically for guitar and sarod.

She has won three Grammy Awards, was named Musical America's 2020 Instrumentalist of the Year — the first guitarist in the award's 59-year history — and was inducted into the Guitar Foundation of America Hall of Fame in 2023.