Broken Branches – Karim Sulayman & Sean Shibe
$32
- Karim Sulayman, tenor
- Sean Shibe, guitar
Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman has garnered international attention as a sophisticated and versatile artist, praised for his "lucid, velvety tenor and pop-star charisma" (BBC Music Magazine), as well as his imaginative programming and recording projects. The 2019 Best Classical Solo Vocal Grammy Award winner for his debut album, Songs of Orpheus, he also earned widespread acclaim for his multidisciplinary production, Unholy Wars, a baroque pasticcio centered around the Crusades and the Middle East.
Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe is known for his innovative approach to his instrument and having "one of the most discriminating ears in the business" (Gramophone). Among other accolades, Shibe was awarded the 2022 Leonard Bernstein Award for his ability to combine musical genres and epochs in unusual ways.
In Broken Branches, Sulayman and Shibe examine their own experience of a dynamic, in-between identity in songs by Monteverdi, Britten, Fairuz, and more.
"Sulayman plumbs the songs for the emotional core, sometimes moving into a wispy sotto voce that seems wired directly into his soul. He can also slide effortlessly into a falsetto whose richness and suppleness match his tenor perfectly. Regardless of register or dynamic level, Sulayman always makes an emotional point when he sings." — Opera News
"Shibe's music-making is masterful, beautiful and convincing in every way" — The Times
About Karim Sulayman, tenor
Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman, a 2019 Grammy Award winner for Best Classical Solo Vocal, is a sophisticated and versatile artist consistently praised for his sensitive and intelligent musicianship, riveting stage presence, and beautiful voice. Sulayman earns acclaim for his thought-provoking programming and recording projects, and maintains a busy career on the world's opera and concert stages, in programs that range from often-heard classical favorites to new work, to audacious commissions and curatorial projects. In 2022, he debuted the widely acclaimed Unholy Wars, a program that recontextualizes Italian Renaissance music about the Crusades through an Arab-American lens, paired with a new work by American composer Mary Kouyoumdjian.
https://www.karimsulayman.com/About Sean Shibe, guitar
One of the most versatile guitarists performing today, Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe's innovative approach to his instrument has enhanced his reputation for being "the most interesting voice on the guitar for a generation." (Gramophone) A great admirer of the masterful composers of the past, Shibe is equally committed to new music. Alongside his transcriptions of Bach's lute suites and 17th-century Scottish lute manuscripts, he continues to explore, experiment, and expand the repertoire for his instrument with recent works and new commissions, including a solo work by Thomas Adès and collaboration with Cassandra Miller and Dunedin Consort.
https://seanshibe.com/