Written by Suanshu Khurana |Updated: February 21, 2019 8:38:07 am
Multiple Grammy-winning classical guitarist Sharon Isbin on why India is special for her
Sharon Isbin on creating space for her nylon-stringed guitar in the world of western classical music.
About a decade ago, New York-based classical guitarist Sharon Isbin received an email from sarod exponent Ut Amjad Ali Khan mentioning a meeting. Khan was a visiting professor at a few universities in the US back then, and his mail was an invitation for Isbin to meet him and attend one of his concerts to contemplate a collaboration. They both played string instruments, so a merger of the notes seemed exciting. Until Isbin threw a curveball. “I explained to him that I’d love to do it, but he’d have to have everything — the notes, rhythm and the interaction — written down for me. I needed a full score to be able to realise his vision,” says Isbin.
What seemed simple and commonplace in Isbin’s world — sheet music using staves and noteheads — was not usual in the system of Indian classical music, where music is not written down and is passed orally from one generation to the other. Khan needed someone with ample knowledge of both the systems, especially that of classical guitar technique, to be able to write his score for Isbin. It took six years to find someone and another two years to write it. “I received the music last November and we’ve been rehearsing intensely ever since,” says Isbin, 63.
The result is The Peace Tribe Concert, where Isbin along with Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan, will present the world premiere of a new score that highlights artistes and instruments from different systems playing the same notes. It’s an experiment that can really work or go down the rabbit hole, but Isbin is excited. “This, perhaps, is the first-of-its-kind formal collaboration between a classical guitar and sarod,” says Isbin, a musical pioneer whose technical precision paired with a penchant for improvisation has led her to be a trailblazer in the world of classical guitar. She believes that her collaborations with artistes — including American rockstar Steve Vai, Deep Purple lead guitarist Steve Morse, iconic jazz singer Nancy Wilson, legendary singer Joan Baez, composers John Corigliano, Thomas Dunn, Christopher Rouse and jazz greats Stanley Jordan and Paul Winter — have given her the understanding of working with people who improvise.
What has also helped is her knowledge of Baroque music. “If I am learning a Bach suite or a Rodrigo concerto, the notes are written down, the exception being that if it’s Baroque music and a Bach or a Vivaldi piece, some of the notes are not written and the performer has to improvise. Indian music improvisations are similar. You are taking the skeletal structure and making it your own,” says Isbin, who cancelled a concert in the US to do a three-city tour in India. She adds that the Spanish guitar, her instrument, which has roots in Flamenco, is known to have roots in India.
Isbin has been a sort of aberration in the world of music. She is perhaps one of the few female classical guitarists in a field dominated by men and is the only classical guitarist to win a Grammy in 28 years (Dreams of a World, 2001). But early on, she also decided to never take “no” for an answer. When she felt that guitar wasn’t getting its due and there was a lack of compositions for guitar with classical orchestras, she got them written. “I’d enter competitions and they’d say that guitar cannot enter classical competitions. I’d ask why not. The organisers had no answer. They’d allow and I would win. I had to convince people of the value of my instrument,” says Isbin, who has also played at the White House for the Obamas.
With the iconic composer John Corigliano (Pulitzer winner with five Grammys and an Oscar) Isbin persevered for eight years. Corigliano thought of the guitar as being a “highly idiomatic instrument” that he didn’t fully understand. She floated a slightly dramatic idea of troubadours — French poet-musicians from the 11th century. “He agreed to write for me,” says Isbin, who was the highlight of Troubadours (variations for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra, 1993). Slowly, many composers came around. “Since I don’t use a plectrum and only the flesh of my fingers or my fingernails, I can change the timbre of the sound to hundreds of qualities by just changing the angle of my nail, the position — by the bridge or closer up the fingerboard,” says Isbin, who is also known as the Monet of classical guitar.
Growing up in Minneapolis, US, where her father was a nuclear scientist and mother was a law graduate and folk dance instructor, she aspired to be a scientist. She was nine when her father accepted a consultant’s position in Italy. Her older brother wanted to learn the guitar and their mother found Aldo Minnela, iconic guitarist Andres Segovia’s student. “The moment my brother realised that it wasn’t the Elvis Presley music, he backed out and I volunteered,” says Isbin, who trained in Italy for about six years. She also won a music competition, the prize for which was to play for the Minnesota Orchestra. “When I played in front of people, I realised this was more fun than sending my worms into space,” says Isbin, who later learned from Segovia too.
After studying music at Yale, she made her New York debut at Lincoln Center in 1979 and was soon signed by Columbia Artists Management. Two Grammys followed, in 2001 and 2010. Having performed with the best orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, she was invited to join The Juilliard School in 1989, where she founded the classical guitar department and wrote Classical Guitar Answer Book. Subject of Susan Dangel’s award-winning documentary titled Sharon Isbin: Troubadour, Isbin isn’t tired just yet. “I’m physically exhausted but mentally the journey is likely to keep rejuvenating me,” says Isbin.
Isbin will perform at Kamani Auditorium on February 22. Tickets on bookmyshow
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