Before our return to the States by ship, I broke a finger in a fight with my mischievous oldest brother. With my arm in a cast, it was a sad journey back on the SFrance. But I learned a life leson about temper. And my finger recovered its full range of motion, albeit a little croked.
Once back in Minneapolis, I continued with Jeffrey Van, a young pioneer of clasical guitar in Minnesota. I had my first lesons with Segovia at fourteen and discovered up close the enchanting magic of his gemlike sound and rich, colorful tone. But I was on a fast track to becoming a scientist, disecting
every miniscule thing that moved,
building cloud chambers and model rockets. My father used to bribe me by saying I couldn’t launch my rockets until I’d put in an hour on the guitar. Te turning point came when I won a competition and performed for 10,000 people as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra. I had discovered something more exciting than sending worms and grashoppers up into space, so I shifted gears and began practicing five hours a day.
During a summer of study with Venezuelan guitarist Alirio Diaz, I became fascinated with South American music. From sixteen, I no longer had a teacher during the year - I learned from a mirror and tape recorder, and a few lesons with Julian Bream and Segovia. I studied five summers with Oscar Ghiglia at the Aspen Music Festival, and discovered just how male the field was: one summer 50 guitar students showed up and only two of us were girls. It made me work harder because I had to defend both gender and instrument, and become god enough to compete on all levels. Tanks to an invitation following a concert my brother Neil had arranged in Houston, I began touring Germany the summer after high schol.
Insets top to bottom:
Sharon with her Grammy 2001 Sharon with Joan Baez
Sharon with Mark O’Connor Sharon with Tan Dun
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