Two-time Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra will give this year's performance in the annual Shirley and Chas Hockett Chamber Music Concert Series at Ithaca College. Named after two longtime educators, the series honors the Hocketts' love of music and devotion to Ithaca College and its School of Music. The free concert will take place on Saturday, October 22, at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music.
Under the direction of Howard Griffiths, the members of the orchestra will perform music written by their Swiss countryman Frank Martin as well as divertimentos by Mozart and Bartok. Isbin will be the featured soloist in pieces by Vivaldi, Albinoni, and Bach.
Appearing regularly in its native Switzerland, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra is also well known throughout the world. In addition to such European venues as the Prague Autumn Festival, Vienna Musikverein, and Berlin Konzerthaus, the ensemble has performed at leading concert halls in Turkey, China, and the United States. An outstanding ensemble in its own right, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra can also boast of performances with some of the world's leading soloists, including Yehudi Menuhin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, James Galway -- and Sharon Isbin.
Whether making a guest appearance on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" or performing to a sold-out concert hall, Isbin has demonstrated a remarkable versatility. She is as familiar with Baroque and Spanish/Latin as she is with crossover and jazz-fusion. In 2000 her "Dreams of a World: Folk-inspired Music for Guitar" soared to the top of the classical "Billboard" charts and earned her a Grammy Award for "Best Instrumental Soloist Performance." That honor made her the first classical guitarist to receive a Grammy in 28 years. A year later her recording of concerti by Christopher Rouse and Tan Dun earned her a second Grammy, for "Best Classical Contemporary Composition."
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20051017112718415