Written for her by John Corigliano
(Tucson, AZ)─Acclaimed as “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time,” Sharon Isbin returns to the Tucson Symphony Orchestra for the first time since 2000 to perform a guitar concerto composed for her by the Grammy,® Oscar and Pulitzer Prize winning composer of The Red Violin, John Corigliano. Case Scaglione, previously the Associate Director of the New York Philharmonic, will conduct performances of Corigliano’s Troubadours and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances Friday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 17 at 2:00 p.m. at Tucson Music Hall. Concert Comments begin promptly one hour prior to performances and are complimentary with tickets.
Sharon Isbin’s latest recording, Souvenirs of Spain and Italy, debuted at No. 1 on Amazon and is currently No. 2 in Billboard. Next month, during a ceremony at Carnegie Hall, she will become the first guitarist to receive the Instrumentalist of the Year Award in Musical America’s 59 year history.
Isbin is the subject of a one-hour documentary presented by American Public Television. Sharon Isbin: Troubadour paints the portrait of a trailblazing performer and teacher who has broken through numerous barriers to rise to the top of a traditionally male-dominated field.
With the TSO, Isbin will perform Troubadours, a work composed for her by John Corigliano. In a note about the piece, he writes, “’Troubadour’ was the name given to the poet-musicians of southern France, whose art flourished from the end of the eleventh until the end of the thirteenth century. While this work utilizes some of the flavor of that time in the solo writing and percussion, it is more concerned with the idea of the troubadour rather than a display of early techniques. The concerto is a series of free variations on an original troubadour-like melody The last phrase of this melody, however, is an actual quote of the final phrase of the song, ‘A Chanter,’ by La Comtessa (Beatritz) de Dia (late twelfth century).”The program will open with the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, widely acknowledged as one of the peaks of the operatic repertoire.
Rachmaninoff’s highly popular Symphonic Dances will conclude the program. His last major composition, Rachmaninoff considered using the material for a ballet but what finally evolved was something very close to a symphony. It is dedicated to Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra, with whom Rachmaninoff had a long and productive relationship.
The TSO Classic Series is sponsored by Mrs. Dorothy Dyer Vanek. Mary N. Dryden is the presenting sponsor and Charlotte Hanson is the artist sponsor for this program. Troubadours is sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur H. Deters.
Tickets to Sharon Isbin Guitar are $31 to $87. They are available online at www.tucsonsymphony.org, at the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Box Office, 2175 N. Sixth Avenue or by phone at 520.882.8585. TSO Box Office hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. unless otherwise indicated.
Contact: Terry Marshall, Public Relations Manager, 520.620.9158
