{{Short description|Scottish guitarist (born 1992)}} {{Infobox musical artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Sean Shibe | honorific_suffix = | image = Sean Shibe in Crichton Church .jpg | image_upright = | image_size = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = | caption = Sean Shibe records with Delphian Records in Crichton Church | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = <!-- leave empty if the same "name" --> | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1992}} | birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland | origin = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date first) --> | death_place = | genre = Classical | occupation = Guitarist | instrument = Classical Guitar, Electric Guitar, Lute | years_active = <!-- YYYY–YYYY (or –present) --> | label = Pentatone | website = {{Official website|https://seanshibe.com}} | module = | module2 = | module3 = }} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Use British English|date=April 2017}} '''Sean Shibe''' ({{IPAc-en|sh|O:|n|_|'|sh|i:|b|@}} {{respell|shawn|_|SHEE|bə}};<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Michael White, Sean Shibe|date=2021-02-23|title=Sean Shibe – At Wigmore Hall |url=https://wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/sean-shibe-202102231300 |access-date=2021-03-16 |format=Concert broadcast |time= |location=London |publisher=Wigmore Hall=}}</ref> born 1992) is a classical and electric guitarist from Edinburgh, Scotland, of English and Japanese parentage.<ref name=Guardian>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jun/03/sean-shibe-review-guitarist-wigmore-hall|title=Sean Shibe review – a nonchalant virtuoso and boundary breakery|date=2020-06-03|first=Rian |last=Evans |work=Guardian| location=London |access-date=2026-02-20 |url-status=live}}</ref> He studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (and was the youngest student to enter the then Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama)<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|title=Sean Shibe|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/aa231e7e-3672-4600-ac19-0d936c79dc06|publisher=BBC Music|accessdate=19 June 2016}}</ref> and to study with Italian guitarist Paolo Pegoraro.<ref name=Walton>{{cite news|author=Ken Walton |url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/music/interview-guitarist-sean-shibe-on-his-rollercoaster-year-of-studying-and-performing-1-2649575 |title=Interview: Guitarist Sean Shibe on his rollercoaster year of studying and performing |work=The Scotsman |date=2012-11-22 |accessdate=2016-03-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816230619/http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/music/interview-guitarist-sean-shibe-on-his-rollercoaster-year-of-studying-and-performing-1-2649575 |archive-date=2018-08-16 |url-status=dead}}</ref> His debut album was described as "not just great guitar playing... the best [the jury] had ever heard" by ''BBC Music Magazine'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.europadisc.co.uk/information/457/BBC_Music_Magazine_Awards_2018.htm|title=BBC Music Magazine Awards 2018|website=www.europadisc.co.uk|access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> and "the best solo guitar disc I've heard" by The Arts Desk.<ref name="artdesk">{{Cite web|url=https://theartsdesk.com/classical-music/classical-cds-weekly-sean-shibe-morten-gunnar-larsen-and-leonard-elschenbroich|title=Classical CDs Weekly: Classical CDs Weekly: Sean Shibe, Morten Gunnar Larsen and Leonard Elschenbroich|website=theartsdesk.com|access-date=2019-02-25}}</ref>
Shibe also plays electric guitar, as on his 2018 album ''softLOUD'', on which he performs Steve Reich's ''Electric Counterpoint'', as well as electric guitar arrangements of works by David Lang and Julia Wolfe. Sean Shibe also performs Georges Lentz's epic, hour-long ''Ingwe'' for solo electric guitar.
Shibe also plays renaissance lute, performing 16th Century French repertoire at Baroque at the Edge, LSO St Luke's.<ref>{{Cite web|title=London Symphony Orchestra – ONLINE EVENT: Sean Shibe's Danse Eternelle {{!}} Baroque at the Edge|url=https://lso.co.uk/whats-on/icalrepeat.detail/2021/01/08/2018/-/online-event-sean-shibe-s-danse-eternelle-baroque-at-the-edge.html|access-date=2020-12-24|website=lso.co.uk}}</ref>
==Early life== Shibe was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1992 to English and Japanese parents.<ref name="Guardian" /><ref name="Walton" /> He attended the City of Edinburgh Music School, as the only guitar student, until he was 14. He then moved to Aberdeen City Music School to study with Allan Neave before leaving at 16 to begin the Bachelor of Music course at the then Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He graduated in 2012 with first class honours.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/13062689.six_string_driven_thing/ |title=six-string driven thing |work=The Herald |location=Glasgow |date=23 June 2012 |accessdate=19 June 2016}}</ref>
==Career== Shibe has performed as soloist with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Sinfonia Viva.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} He has performed at the Brighton Festival,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sean Shibe, Pavilion Theatre, Brighton, May 25|url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9730646.Sean_Shibe__Pavilion_Theatre__Brighton__May_25/|accessdate=19 June 2016|work=The Argus|date=28 May 2012}}</ref> Aldeburgh Festival, St Magnus Festival, East Neuk Festival and Marlboro Music School and Festival.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} He made his Wigmore Hall debut in 2012 and has performed there annually since.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wigmore-hall.org.uk/search?s=Sean+shibe|title=Advanced Search|website=Wigmore Hall|language=en|access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref>
In 2014 he performed Alasdair Nicolson's piece ''Magnus'', written specially for the event, at an 80th birthday celebration for Peter Maxwell Davies at Glasgow City Halls.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Molleson|first1=Kate|title=Max at 80 review – a homecoming among friends|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/sep/15/peter-maxwell-davies-max-at-80-review-city-halls-glasgow|accessdate=19 June 2016|work=The Guardian|date=15 September 2014}}</ref>
He was one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists for 2012–2014, and performed with the BBC Singers in a concert broadcast live from St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge in January 2015.<ref>{{cite web|title=BBC Singers and Sean Shibe|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e36mxj|website=BBC Radio 3|accessdate=19 June 2016}}</ref> His performances appeared on the cover disc of the February 2016 edition of BBC Music Magazine.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14290478.Following_the_talent_of_our_young_musicians/ |title=Following the talent of our young musicians |first=Michael |last=Tumelty |work=The Herald |date=20 February 2016 |accessdate=20 June 2016}}</ref>
'Dreams & Fancies', his 2017 debut album released on Delphian Records, entered the UK Classical Specialist Charts at No.3.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/specialist-classical-chart/20170728/specclass/|title=Official Specialist Classical Chart Top 30 {{!}} Official Charts Company|website=www.officialcharts.com|language=en|access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> BBC Radio 3's Record Review said of the album: "It's not often a guitar recital leaves me slightly stunned, but this one did. Just listen to the sound, the way Shibe changes the colour even during a phrase... what a seductive sound, incredibly clean playing, and almost miraculous changes of colour and timbre, never empty gestures, always to articulate the counterpoint and phrasing. Inspired by Julian Bream's pioneering spirit perhaps, but this is playing on an exalted level... If you only buy one guitar recital this year – it's called Dreams & Fancies."{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} Graham Rickson at The Arts Desk wrote: "This is the best solo guitar disc I've heard."<ref name="artdesk"/>
Shibe's second full solo album, 'softLOUD', received the inaugural Gramophone Award for Concept Album of the Year. Martin Cullingford, writing in Gramophone Magazine, said: "We wanted to draw attention to those albums where a creative mind has curated something visionary, a programme whose whole speaks more powerfully than its parts. A thought-through journey, which compels to be heard in one sitting. A concept that makes a virtue of the genre. Our inaugural winner was a personal reaction to events: the EU referendum, the American elections, the murder of a British MP on the streets of her constituency... ‘Have we today forgotten how to speak softly and with grace; or is the real danger that we aren’t screaming loudly enough?’ asks Shibe in the sleeves notes, but, ultimately, through the programme itself. ‘softLOUD’ is a fascinating answer to the question of what, today, an album can do, and be."<ref name="Concept Album">{{Cite web|title=Concept Album|url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/awards/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2019/concept-album|access-date=2020-12-24|website=Gramophone|language=en}}</ref>
In March 2020 Shibe performed 'Ingwe' at "ear splitting volume"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Shock-waves and silence from Sean Shibe at Wigmore Hall – Seen and Heard International|url=https://seenandheard-international.com/2020/03/shock-waves-and-silence-from-sean-shibe-at-wigmore-hall/|access-date=2021-01-07|website=seenandheard-international.com}}</ref> at Wigmore Hall, resulting in over 20 audience members leaving the recital.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Fisher|first=Neil|title=Sean Shibe review — guitarist who dazzled and dazed|language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/sean-shibe-review-guitarist-who-dazzled-and-dazed-zwfqhf2dd|access-date=2021-01-07|issn=0140-0460}}</ref>
Shibe's third album on Delphian, titled BACH won Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice and sat at the top of the UK Official Charts for seven weeks.
In 2020, Shibe signed an exclusive, multi-album agreement with PENTATONE, and has released three critically-acclaimed releases with the label. In April 2024, Shibe won the BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Award for his album ''[https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/profesion/ Profesión].''
== Discography ==
* [https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/vesper/ Vesper], Pentatone, 2026 * [https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/ades-forgotten-dances-digital-only-ep/ Adès: Forgotten Dances], Pentatone, 2025 * [https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/campanella-digital-only-ep/?play=1 Campanella], Pentatone, 2024 * [https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/profesion/?play=1 Profesión], Pentatone, 2023 * [https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/broken-branches/?play=1 Broken Branches], Sean Shibe and Karim Sulayman, Pentatone, 2023 * [https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/lost-found/?play=1 Lost & Found], Pentatone, 2022 * [https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/camino-sean-shibe/?play=1 Camino], Pentatone, 2021 * Bach: Pour la Luth ò Cembal, Delphian Records, 2020 * softLOUD: music for acoustic and electric guitars, Delphian Records, 2018 * Dreams & Fancies, Delphian Records, 2017
==Awards== * 2009: Ivor Mairants Guitar Award<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wcom.org.uk/awards/ivor-mairants-guitar-award/|title=The Musicians' Company {{!}} Ivor Mairants Guitar Award|language=en|access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> * 2011: Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition String Prize, Gold Medal and First Prize<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rosl.org.uk/music/music-alumni|title=Music Alumni|last=Parkin|first=Geoff|website=Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL)|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> * 2012: Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship recipient <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbtrust.com/artist/sean-shibe/|title=Biography – Sean Shibe|website=Borletti-Buitoni Trust|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> * 2012–2015: Appointed BBC New Generation Artist * 2015–2018: Appointed Young Classical Artists Trust Artist * 2017: Gramophone Editor's Choice and BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Choice for first solo album, 'Dreams & Fancies'<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8335610--dreams-fancies-english-music-for-solo-guitar|title=Dreams & Fancies: English Music for Solo Guitar|website=Presto Classical|language=en|access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> * 2018: 'Dreams & Fancies' shortlisted for BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Award; shortlisted for 2 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards (Instrumentalist and Young Artist); receive RPS Award for Young Artists;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/awards/rps_music_awards/latest-winners|title=Winners|website=Royal Philharmonic Society|language=en|access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> shortlisted for Classical Brit Award;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.classicfm.com/events/classic-brit-awards/sound-of-classical-poll-shortlist/|title=Classic BRIT Awards Sound of Classical poll shortlist revealed|website=Classic FM|language=en|access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> 2nd album, 'softLOUD', released and receives BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Choice.<ref name="prestomusic.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8449147--softloud-music-for-acoustic-electric-guitars|title=softLOUD: Music for Acoustic & Electric Guitars|website=Presto Classical|language=en|access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> * 2019: 'softLOUD' shortlisted for BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Award;<ref name="prestomusic.com"/> 'softLOUD' receives inaugural Gramophone Award for Concept Album of the Year <ref name="Concept Album"/> * 2021: 'Bach' receives Gramophone Award for Instrumental Category<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bach Lute Suites – Sean Shibe (2021 Gramophone Instrumental Award)|url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/awards/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2021/instrumental|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Gramophone|language=en}}</ref> * 2022: Leonard Bernstein Award<ref name="nmz">{{cite web | title=Leonard Bernstein Award für schottischen Gitarristen Sean Shibe – neue musikzeitung | website=nmz | url=https://www.nmz.de/kiz/nachrichten/leonard-bernstein-award-fuer-schottischen-gitarristen-sean-shibe | language=de | access-date=29 January 2022}}</ref> *2023: Grammy nomination, for Broken Branches, with Karim [https://www.karimsulayman.com/about Sulayman] *2024: BBC Music Magazine, Instrumental Award for ''[https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/profesion/ Profesión]''
==See also== * List of classical guitarists
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shibe, Sean}} Category:1992 births Category:Living people Category:Scottish classical guitarists Category:Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Category:21st-century Scottish guitarists