“It would be hyperbolic to say that Shibe is revolutionizing guitar technique; it wouldn’t be, however, to say that he’s determinedly extending it into new contemporary classical realms. He’s been called a trailblazer, and Vesper bears that out. Like the composers represented on the release, the guitarist is doing his part to push the instrument’s expressive potential into bold new territory.”

“Sean Shibe […] proved himself an unflappable soloist here but is also a master of drawing the listener in close, even in the vast Royal Albert Hall. In the quieter, stiller moments, Shibe picked out notes like pinpricks of starlight.”

“Guitarist Sean Shibe and the SCO gave a remarkably crisp, nuanced account of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez to open this year’s East Neuk Festival.”

“Shibe brings a lively charisma and a vibrant array of musical colour to [Broken Branches], conjuring everything from 17^th-century lute to Arabic oud…”

“Shibe’s performance was mesmerising… Their conviction was infectious.”

“Shibe can shred, but more often he makes the instrument as featherlight as an angel’s wing.”

“Lost & Found is a beguiling album, where music of innocence and experience interlace. And where a masterful, mercurial artist, compels us to question what a ​“classical guitarist” should sound like in 2022.”

“one of the most compelling and touching recitals for the instrument I can recall”

“It’s a beautifully intimate recording, full of playing that is as far from classical-guitar cliche .. full of big, bold gestures and soft, subtle shifts in colour. All the transitions from piece to piece, key to key, have been similarly meticulously thought through – but what’s really striking is the way in which Shibe sustains a world of intensity and introspection through playing that buzzes with vitality. The attention to detail in his playing is breathtaking; nothing interrupts the flow of the music, and nothing is done purely for effect.”

“Shibe’s playing in this warhorse was superlative…There was rhythmic exactitude across metallic, gutsy passagework in the first movement…Most remarkable, perhaps, was the featherlight touch and whisper quiet of the second movement’s cadenza… In the final movement he was rugged and playfully astringent, navigating Rodrigo’s rhythmic games with élan.”

“…there’s no doubting that he himself is an artist blessed with grace to spare, and a roar that is fearsome”

“Shibe imbues the early Scottish lute pieces with a profoundly moving intensity that carries them far beyond their modest frames, through to the MacMillan arrangements, themselves as much transitions from the old to the new as Reich’s Electric Counterpoint, which seems to gather the previous works in a boppy afterparty. Then they are torn apart in Julia Wolfe’s LAD, a searing siren song of lamentation originally for nine bagpipes. And Lang’s explosive Killer, originally for electric violin. But try listening to ​‘softLOUD’ in reverse order, and remember Britten’s Nocturnal.”

“This is the best solo guitar disc I’ve heard.”