One of the most versatile guitarists on the concert platform today, Sean Shibe brings a fresh and innovative approach by experimenting with instruments and repertoire.

In this unmissable programme of polar opposites, he presents a first half dedicated to classical guitar, featuring two delectable suites by JS Bach (BWV 996) and Mompou (Compostelana), before switching to electric guitar for Steve Reich’s hypnotic Electric Counterpoint, and Julia Wolfe’s LAD, ‘a searing siren song of lamentation’ originally for nine bagpipes, arranged by Shibe for multitrack electric guitar.

‘Shibe sustains a world of intensity and introspection through playing that buzzes with vitality.’ Guardian

‘Shibe’s music-making is masterful, beautiful and convincing in every way’ The Times

The first guitarist to be selected for the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, and to be awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, Shibe was a prize-winner at the 2015 YCAT International Auditions.  In 2018, he became the first guitarist to receive the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Young Artists and the following year he won a Gramophone Award in the newly-created ​‘Concept Album’ category for his critically acclaimed recording softLOUD.

Shibe is committed to the music of the great masters of the past and has made his own transcriptions of Bach lute suites and seventeenth century Scottish lute manuscripts. He is also continuing to expand the repertoire for his instrument by conceiving imaginative programmes featuring new music and commissions. Recent and future performances include music by Daniel Kidane, David Fennessy, Sofia Gubaidulina, Thomas Ades, Shiva Feshareki, David Lang, Julia Wolfe and the premiere of a reworked version of Georges Lentz’s Ingwe, in collaboration with the composer himself. New commissions include David Fennessy, Daniel Kidane, Sir James Macmillan, Mark Simpson, Sylvia Villa and Freya Waley-Cohen.