(2021). Sharon Wayne has worked for over thirty years as a solo performer, recording artist, music educator, and chamber musician. A founding member of the San Francisco Guitar Quartet, she has also performed regularly around Boston and New York with the crossover group Back Bay Guitar Trio. Formerly on the faculties of Santa Clara University, San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Preparatory Division, and several community music schools on both coasts, Sharon has also served as Artistic Director of the San Francisco Classical Guitar Society and the Boston Classical Guitar Society.

Her passion for bringing new music to wider audiences has led to close collaborations with local composers, commissioning, performing, and recording their works, and premiering pieces for guitar in local venues, including the Green Room, Center for New Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the Community Music Center.

Sharon’s current artistic collaborators include mezzo-soprano Nicole Takesono and CMC faculty members Martha Rodríguez-Salazar and Beth Wilmurt, with all of whom she has continued to develop new programs in the face of the pandemic’s challenges.

She has recorded six CDs, including SFGQ’s Black Opals (SFGQ2001); In the Midst of Winds (M.A. Recordings, Tokyo) with composer/guitarist Dušan Bogdanović; and her debut solo CD From the Heart (Joplin and Sweeney, 1996), which features works by 20^th century composers. Sharon has performed in master classes for David Russell, Manuel Barrueco, David Leisner, and David Tanenbaum, among others, and earned her BM and MM degrees in Classical Guitar Performance at the USC Thornton School of Music, where her primary instructors were William Kanengiser and James Smith.

“I love teaching students of all ages and levels. I tailor lessons to the interests and needs of each student, always with attention to developing a healthy technique that will support a lifetime of playing. I have an appreciation for the range of different learning styles and preferences, and use varied teaching strategies including games, hands-on activities, ear training, note-reading, theory, and ensemble playing, to engage and support students on their musical journeys.” www.sharonwayne.net