Sharon Isbin at Pitt-Bradford

BRADFORD, Pa – Grammy award-winning classical musician Sharon Isbin, whose recordings include the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award-winning film “The Departed,” will perform on Nov. 8 at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.

Hailed as “the preeminent guitarist of our time” by Boston Magazine, Isbin will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. in Bromeley Family Theater of Blaisdell Hall as part of the university's Spectrum Series. Admission is $14 for the public and free to students.

Isbin has collaborated with many personalities of our time, from Muhammad Ali and Bernie Williams to Melissa Etheridge and Yo-Yo Ma and played for the memorial held at Ground Zero on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

In 2003, she premiered the “Joan Baez Suite,” a seven-movement solo guitar work featuring songs from early in Baez’s folk-singing career written exclusively for Isbin.

In 2005, she earned a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Classical Album for her recording with the New York Philharmonic, which spent 17 weeks on Billboard’s Top Classical Chart.

Her repertoire spans over 25 recordings, including Baroque, Spanish/Latin and 20th Century to crossover and jazz-fusion. Among her released albums are J.S. Bach Complete Lute Suites, Artist Profile, Wayfaring Stranger, Greatest Hits and Double Concerto. Her music also appeared on Showtime’s “The L Word.”

“There are many great guitarists, but Sharon is in a league of her own, the pinnacle everyone compares themselves to,” said Randy Mayes, director of arts programming at Pitt-Bradford.

Isbin has taken home several Grammy awards, including Best Instrumental Soloist Performance in 2001 for Dreams of a World: Folk-inspired Music for Guitar; and a 2002 award for Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra for Baroque Favorites for Guitar.

Isbin has performed at sold-out concertd throughout the world, including New York’s Carnegie and Avery Fisher halls, Boston’s Symphony Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In addition, she also has performed as a soloist with more than 160 orchestras across the country.

A frequent radio guest on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion”, Isbin has also been featured on television programs, including “CBS Sunday Morning”, and on the A&E Network. Isbin has been written about in periodicals from People to The New York Times, as well as appearing on 35 magazine covers.

After learning to play the guitar at 9 years of age, Isbin studied under renowned instrumentalists Rosalyn Tureck, Andrès Segovia and Oscar Ghiglia.

She earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a master’s degree in music from the Yale School of Music.

For tickets, call the Bromeley Family Theater Box Office at (814) 362-5113.

She'll be my guest on WESB's LiveLine at 12:40 p.m. November 6.