Thomas Ades: Forgotten Dances; Habanera aus "The Exterminating Angel"
+Harrison Birtwistle: Construction with Guitar Player aus "Beyond the White Hand"; Guitar and White Hand; Oockooing Bird; Sleep Song; Berceuse de Jeanne; Sad Song; Je sui aussi
+James Dillon: Caprices

Sean Shibe's new album "Vespers" presents an impressive collection of contemporary guitar works by the late Harrison Birtwistle, James Dillon and Thomas Ades, none of whom play or played the instrument themselves. These miniatures, recorded here for the first time, explore the expressive possibilities of the guitar in very different ways: ritualistic and evocative in Birtwistle's case, elemental in Dillon's and allusive in Adès'. Shibe's interpretations reveal the instrument's extraordinary color, subtlety and versatility, bringing each work to life with imagination and nuance. On some of Birtwistle's pieces, Shibe plays the Sylvette (2021), a guitar built by luthier Simon Ambridge in collaboration with French-British artist Lydia Corbett. Corbett was a muse of Pablo Picasso - who himself was an important influence on several of Birtwistle's works on this album - and also inspired Picasso to create his famous Sylvette series. The guitar, modeled after the small, responsive instruments of Andalusian luthier Antonio de Torres, bears Corbett's artwork on its body, adding a visual and symbolic layer to the performance. Shibe is a former BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of the 2022 Leonard Bernstein Award, and his recordings have won BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone awards.