Viva Musica! festival 2024
Sean Shibe

The Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe is prototypically the contemporary young artist who defies all conventional classical stereotypes. A graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Scotland, he is justly acknowledged as one of the best and most versatile guitarists of the younger generation. With each concert and every new album (Broken Branches, Profesión, Lost & Found, softLOUD), he shifts the boundaries of the master performer’s art and even of individual musical genres. He is well-known for his innovative approach to the classical guitar and electrical guitar, and indeed to historical performance on the lute. His dramaturgies encompass a wide spectrum of works, engaging with music across the centuries, genres, and interpretive approaches. We will encounter presentations of original guitar works of diverse periods, uncommon transcriptions of compositions, and presentations of new works of contemporary music, for which Shibe has a passion. Sean Shibe is the holder of a number of prestigious awards (ECHO Rising Star, OPUS Klassik, BBC New Generation Artist, Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award, Leonard Bernstein Award, nomination for Grammy etc.). Currently he is also active as a professor of guitar playing at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. He comes to Bratislava with one of his uncommon and surprising dramaturgies, comprising a rich palette of works ranging from Hildegard of Bingen, Johann Sebastian Bach, through Agustin Barrios Mangore, and ending with iconic names of 20th century music: Olivier Messiaen, Sofia Gubaidulina, Steve Reich and Julius Eastman.