Sérgio Assad is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian guitarist

Classical guitar

The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...

, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, and arranger

Arrangement

The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...

 who often performs with his brother in the guitar duo Sérgio and Odair Assad, commonly referred to as Assad Brothers or Duo Assad.

Biography

Born into a musical family in Mococa, São Paulo, Brazil, Sergio Assad began creating music for the guitar not long after he began playing the instrument. He learned Brazilian folk melodies from his father. By age 14, he was arranging and writing original compositions for the guitar duo he had formed with his brother, Odair. At the age of 17, he and Odair began their studies under the best known classical guitar teacher in Brazil at the time, Monina Tavora, a former disciple of Andres Segovia. Sergio later went on to study conducting and composition at the Escola Nacional de Música in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, and worked privately with Brazilian composition teacher, Esther Scliar.

Arrangements

Over the last twenty years Assad has concentrated most of his efforts on building a repertoire for the guitar duo. He has extended the possibilities of the two-guitar combination through his arrangements of Latin American music by composers such as Piazzolla

Ástor Piazzolla

Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...

, Villa Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...

, and Ginastera

Alberto Ginastera

Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.- Biography :...

 as well as Baroque

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

 to Modern music

Contemporary classical music

Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...

 by Scarlatti

Scarlatti

Scarlatti was the name of several Italian composers:*Alessandro Scarlatti , Baroque composer known for operas and chamber cantatas*Francesco Scarlatti , Baroque composer and musician, brother of Alessandro Scarlatti...

, Rameau

Jean-Philippe Rameau

Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...

, Soler

Antonio Soler

Antonio Francisco Javier José Soler Ramos, usually known as Padre Antonio Soler, known in Catalan as Antoni Soler i Ramos was a Spanish Catalan composer whose works span the late Baroque and early Classical music eras...

, Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

, Mompou

Federico Mompou

Frederic Mompou i Dencausse was a Catalan Spanish composer and pianist. He is best known for his solo piano music and his songs.-Life:...

, Ravel

Maurice Ravel

Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...

, Debussy

Claude Debussy

Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...

, and Gershwin

George Gershwin

George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...

 among others. He has completed over 300 arrangements for different chamber music settings arrangements for Gidon Kremer

Gidon Kremer

Gidon Kremer is a Latvian violinist and conductor. In 1980 he left the USSR and settled in Germany.-Biography:Kremer was born in Riga to parents of German-Jewish and Latvian-Swedish origins. He began playing the violin at the age of four, receiving instruction from his father and his grandfather,...

, Dawn Upshaw

Dawn Upshaw

Dawn Upshaw is an American soprano described as "one of the most consequential performers of our time" by the Los Angeles Times. The recipient of several Grammy Awards and Edison Prize-winning discs, Upshaw is at home both in opera and art song, and in repertoire from Baroque to contemporary...

, Yo Yo Ma, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

Nadja Rose Catherine Salerno-Sonnenberg is an Italian-born classical violinist, author, and teacher. She is a United States citizen.-Career:...

, TrioConBrio, Iwao Furusawa, Paquito D'Rivera

Paquito D'Rivera

Paquito D'Rivera is a Cuban alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist. The winner of multiple Grammys and other awards, D'Rivera has lived in the United States since the early 1980s. He has worked in a variety of contexts, but is perhaps best known for playing Latin...

, Turtle Island String Quartet, L.A. Quartet, Luciana Souza

Luciana Souza

Luciana Souza is a Brazilian jazz singer and composer who has crossed over into classical music.Daughter of poet Tereza Souza and singer-composer-guitarist Walter Santos, she grew up in São Paulo. She is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston from which she received a Bachelor's...

, and Vancouver Cantata Singers.

Composition

As a composer Assad has completed more than fifty works for guitar, many of which have become standards in the guitar repertoire. His "Aquarelle" for solo guitar was chosen as the required contemporary work for the 2002 Guitar Foundation of America

Guitar Foundation of America

Guitar Foundation of America is the leading guitar organization founded in the year 1973. The company offer various services ranging from Guitar Lessons, to a Guitar Shop, Competitions and Events. The company is non profit and relies on advertisers on the website and events and donations...

 Competition in Miami. In 2007, he wrote the set piece for the 2008 Guitar Foundation of America

Guitar Foundation of America

Guitar Foundation of America is the leading guitar organization founded in the year 1973. The company offer various services ranging from Guitar Lessons, to a Guitar Shop, Competitions and Events. The company is non profit and relies on advertisers on the website and events and donations...

 Competition named "Valsa de Outono". Assad’s orchestral compositions include the ballet "Scarecrow", the concerto "Mikis" for guitar and strings, "Fantasia Carioca" for two guitars which he and Odair premiered with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra , based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is the United States' only full-time professional chamber orchestra...

 in 1998, "Interchange", a concerto for guitar quartet and orchestra premiered by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet

The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet consists of John Dearman, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant and Matthew Greif . They are known for using nylon string guitars to imitate a variety of instruments and effects....

 with the San Antonio Symphony

San Antonio Symphony

The San Antonio Symphony is a full-time professional symphony orchestra based in San Antonio, Texas. Its season runs from late September to early June...

 in 2009, the concerto "Originis" for violin, guitar duo, and orchestra recorded live with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, and the concerto "Phases" for guitar duo and orchestra premiered in 2011 by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra with the Assad Brothers as soloists.

Teaching

Assad has taught master class

Master class

A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also painting, drama, or any of the arts....

es in conservatories, universities, and music schools in the US, Europe, Latin America, Japan, and Australia. From 1994 to 1996, he taught at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique in Brussels and from 2003 to 2006 at the Chicago College of Performing Arts

Chicago College of Performing Arts

Chicago College of Performing Arts is a performing arts college that is housed at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. The college has two divisions: the Music Conservatory and the Theatre Conservatory.- History :...

 at Roosevelt University

Roosevelt University

Roosevelt University is a coeducational, private university with campuses in Chicago, Illinois and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university is named in honor of both former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university's curriculum is based on...

. He is currently on faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

San Francisco Conservatory of Music, formerly the California Conservatory of Music, founded in 1917, is a music school, with an enrollment of about 400 students. It was launched by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodgehead in the remodeled home of Lillian's parents on Sacramento Street. It was called the...

.

Collaborations

The Assad Brothers have collaborated in performance and recordings with classical artists Gidon Kremer, Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, the Turtle island Quartet and Paquito D’Rivera. The collaboration with Salerno-Sonnenberg inspired Sergio to write the triple concerto "Originis" for violin, two guitars and chamber orchestra. This piece celebrates the respective Italian and Brazilian roots of Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and the Assad Duo and has been performed with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra located in the state of New Jersey, United States. Philip James founded the orchestra in 1922. The orchestra is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Neeme Järvi, the NJSO's music director from 2005 to 2009, is currently the orchestra's...

, Seattle Symphony

Seattle Symphony

The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra's season runs from September through July, and serves as the pit orchestra for most productions of the Seattle Opera in addition to its own concerts...

, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra , based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is the United States' only full-time professional chamber orchestra...

 among others and recorded live in São Paulo, Brazil with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo. This recording has been released by NSS Music in 2009.

Awards

• 2010 - "Interchange", a concerto for guitar quartet and orchestra, was nominated for the Best Classical Contemporary Composition at the 11th Latin Grammy Awards.
• 2010 - "Maracaípe", a piece for guitar duo, was nominated for the Best Classical Contemporary Composition at the 11th Latin Grammy Awards.
• 2008 - His compositions for two guitars, "Tahhiyya Li Ossoulina", received a Latin Grammy award
  Latin Grammy Awards
  A Latin Grammy Award is an accolade by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. Unlike the regular Grammy Award which primarily honors music produced in the United States, the Latin Grammy honors works produced anywhere around the...
  
   as best contemporary composition.
• 2002 - The album "Sérgio and Odair Assad Play Piazzolla" received a Latin Grammy award for best Tango album.
• 1973 – Winner of Competition for young soloists – the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra.
• 1979 - Winner of The Rostrum for Young Interpreters in The International Music Competition of Bratislava (former Czechoslovakia)

List of works

• Três Cenas Brasileiras (1984) Two guitars (Editions Henry Lemoine)

Pinote, Vitoria Regia, Recife dos corais (Nonesuch 1984)

• Suite Brasileira (1986) Two guitars (Ascap)

Baiao, Cançao e Samba (Nonesuch 1988)

• Aquarelle (1986) Solo guitar (Editions Henry Lemoine)

Divertimento, Valseana, Preludio e Toccatina (mandatory piece for the GFA competition 2002)

• Children’s Cradle (1992) Solo guitar (Sergio Assad Music)

Berceuse, Dreams, Morning’s Rag (recorded by Ricardo Cobo)

• Saga dos Migrantes Two guitars (Sergio Assad Music)

Retirantes, Trem da Ilusao, Metropolis, Saudades, Dança Antagonica (Nonesuch 1992)

• Giornatta a Nettuno (1993) Guitar ensemble (Vogt&Fritz, Germany)

• Fantasia Carioca (1994) Solo guitar (Sergio Assad Music)

• Suite “Summer Garden” (1994) Two guitars (Gendai Magazine)

Opening, Summer Garden, Farewell, The Friends, Unbalanced, Train of Thoughts, First Encounter, The Old Man, Walk on a Bridge, The Morgue, Invitation, The Well, Water Frenzy, Watermelon, Helping Hands, Rain Storm, Remembrance, A search, Dreams, Passage, Butterflies (GHA, Sony Classics)

• Winter Impressions (1996) Flute, Viola and Guitar (Edition Henry Lemoine)

The Frozen Garden, Blue Solitude, Fire Place (composed for TrioConBrio, dedicated to Andrea Foerderreuther, recorded on "Impressions", Koch Discover International). Premiered at Nuertingen International Guitar Festival 1996 by TrioConBrio.

• Circulo Magico (1997) Flute and Guitar (E.H Lemoine, France)

• Uarekena (1997) Guitar Quartet (E.Lemoine)

• Fantasia Carioca bis (1998) two guitars and chamber orchestra (Ascap)

premiered in 1998 with the Saint Paul Orchestra conducted by John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

• Sonata (1999) solo guitar (Gendai Magazine)

Allegro Moderato, Andante, Presto ( recorded by Shin-Ichi Fukuda

Shin-Ichi Fukuda

is a Japanese classical guitarist. He has released more than 60 albums, including in Memoriam: Takemitsu: Guitar Works, his interpretation of works by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.-External links:* *...

)

• Jobiniana n 1 (1986) Two guitars (Edition H Lemoine, France)

• Jobiniana n 2 (1988) Flute and guitar( (E. HL.)

• Jobiniana n 3 (1996) Solo guitar (E.HL) (rec by Shin Ichi Fukuda)

• Jobiniana n 4 (2001) Cello and guitar(rec by Shin Ichi Fukuda)

• Espantalho (Ballet) (1998) Chamber Orchestra (Sergio Assad Music)

premiered by the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of São Paulo, Brazil

• Mikis Concerto Fantasia) (1999) Solo guitar and String Orchestra (premiered in Athens by Costas Cotsiolis and the Athenian String Orchestra)

Allegro, Andante, Vivace

• The Chase (1996) Two guitars (Nonesuch)

• Pieces for violin and two guitars (1996) (Nonesuch)

Andalucia

Fantasy on Dark Eyes

Istambul (Awakening, Turkish Dance)

Tatras

Gypsy Songs

Vardar’s

• Pieces for Clarinet and Guitar (1998) (Egea, Italy)

Un abbraccio a Joao

Menino

Grumari

Violetas Azuis

Champ

Velho Retrato

Hopscotch

Mangabeira

Angela

• Campusca (1996) Two guitars (Sergio Assad Music)

• Eterna (1996) Two guitars (Sergio Assad Music)

• Menino (2003) Cello and two guitars. (rec by Yo Yo Ma Sony)

• Menino (2003) Flute, viola and guitar (rec by trio con brio)

• Three Greek letters (2000) Solo guitar (Editions Henry Lemoine)

Psi

Pi

Sigma

• Concerto Originis (2001) Triple concerto for violin, two guitar and chamber

Orchestra. ( premiered with the Ssint Paul Orchestra)

• 3 Divertimentos (2002) Solo guitar (GSP)

Abaete

Arpoador

Parati

• 5 World Dances (2002) Guitar and string quartet (Sergio Assad Music)

Middle Eastern, Celtic, African, Balkan, Latin American

• Eli’s Portrait (2004) Solo guitar (Sergio Assad Music)

• Itaipava (2006) Flute, violin, clarinet, cello , piano (Sergio Assad Music)

• Tahhiyya Li Ossoulina (2006) Two guitars (Sergio Assad Music)

• Trois Brésiliens à Saint Paul (2007) Guitar ensemble (Sergio Assad Music)

Le naïf, La joyeuse, Le reveur, Rencontre a Tricastin

• Piatã (2007) Choir and two guitars (Sergio Assad Music)

• Alvorada Tropical (2007) 4 Guitars (commissioned by the EOS guitar Quartet)

• Sinceridade (2007) 4 guitars (written for Maogani Guitasr Quartet)

• Interchange (2008) Concerto for Four Guitars and Orchestra (Editions Doberman)

(commissioned by the San Antonio Guitar Festival. Written for the LAGQ)
Sephardic Passage

Gypsy Slopes

Pacific Overlook

Forroblues Detour

Crossings

• Valsa de Outono (2008) for solo guitar (commissioned by the GFA in San Francisco, CA; Editions Doberman)

• Familia (2008) Song for the Assad Family (written for the album songs of joy and peace by YoYo Ma)

• 6 Brevidades (2009) for solo guitar (Written for Odair Assad; Editions Doberman)

Tarde

Chuva

Feliz"

Ginga

Cantiga

Saltitante

• Maracaípe (2009) for two Guitars (commissioned by Chia Teng/ Theresa Lee. Written for Sue Wang Duo)

Wistful Rider

Crab walk

• The Enchanted Island (2009) for Guitar Trio (commissioned by Manuel Barrueco and The Beijing Guitar Duo)

• Suite “Back to Our Roots” (2010) with Clarice Assad
  Clarice Assad
  Clarice Assad is a classical and jazz composer, arranger, pianist, and vocalist.A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Clarice Assad has performed professionally since the age of seven. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Chicago College of the Performing Arts, in Chicago, IL, and a Masters...
  
   For voice, piano, guita and sazouki

Leaving

Hope

Nostalgy

Happiness

• Suite Brasileira II (2010) for Guitar Trio (commissioned by the Andrew Zohn and the University of Columbus, GA)

• Phases (2010) Concerto for two guitars and Orchestra (premiered with the Seattle Symphony in January 2011)

Recollections

Old Portrait

Ressurgence

• Central do Brasil (2010) for guitar and string quartet (written for Jose Paulo Becker and the Quarteto Radames Ganattali)

• Impressiones Ibericas (2011) for solo guitar (commissioned by Raphael Aguirre)

Asturiana

Catalana

Andaluz

Discography

• Latino America, recorded with the Armorial orchestra (1974)

Continental 1-035-404-006).

• International Rostrum of Young Performers (1979)

Opus 9110041/2. 2-LP set including various performers. Assads play Scarlatti, Villa-Lobos and Petit.

• Complete Villa-Lobos works for solo guitar (1978)

Kuarup Discos KLP 003/4

• Os Choros de Camera (1980)

Kuarup MKCD-002. Sergio plays Choro No. 1.

• Musica Nova do Brasil (solo recording by Sérgio) (1981)

Funarte/Promemus MMB 81.022. This CD can be heard at Funarte's web site.

• Marlos Nobre/Yanomani (1983)

EMI-Odeon 31 C 0634422921

• Gnattali, Rodrigo, Piazzolla (1984, CD released in 1983)

GHA #126021

• Latin American Music for Two Guitars (1985, re-released 1993)

Nonesuch/Elektra 79116

• Concert at the "Y" (February 3, 1983)

Free cassette distributed to subscribers of Guitar Review. Recorded live at the YMJA, New York City, NY.

• Alma Brasileira (1988, re-released 1993)

Nonesuch/Elektra 79179

• Violões: Projeto Memoria Brasileira (1989)

Crescente CR 0009 (Brazil). The Duo plays Egberto Gismonti's Baião Malandro on this live album.

• Two Concertos for Two Guitars (1991)

GHA #126018

• Play Rameau/Scarlatti/Couperin/Bach (1993)

Nonesuch/Elektra #79292

• Natsu no Niwa Suite (1994)

GHA #126029

• White Moon: Songs to Morpheus (1995)

Nonesuch/Elektra 79364. NOTE: This album is by soprano Dawn Upshaw. The Assads are on tracks 3, 6, and 12.

• Saga Dos Migrantes (1996)

Nonesuch/Elektra 79365.

• El Tango (1997)

Nonesuch/Elektra 79462. NOTE: This album is by Gidon Kremer, playing the music of Ástor Piazzolla. The duo accompanies on tracks 1 and 10.

• Soul of the Tango (1997)

Sony Classical/SME SK 63122. NOTE: This album is by Yo Yo Ma; the Assads play Piazzolla's Tango Suite.

• Fuga y misterio (1998)

GHA #126027. NOTE: This album is by Odair Assad. Odair, Sérgio, cellist Edmond Carlier, and violinist Fernando Suarez Paz play works by Piazzolla, Lucky, and Gnattali.

• Velho Retrato (1999)

EGEA Edizioni Discografiche SCA 068. NOTE: This is an album of duets between Sérgio and Gabrielle Mirabassi (clarinet). All compositions are by Sérgio except one by his daughter Clarice.

• Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg Sérgio and Odair Assad (2000)

Nonesuch/Elektra 79505.

• Sérgio and Odair Assad Play Piazzolla (2001)

Nonesuch/Elektra 79632.

• Concierto de Volos - Concierto de Aranjuez - Serenade opus 50 (2002)

GHA 126.025. NOTE: This album is of the Orquestra de Cordoba, conducted by Leo Brouwer. Odair is the soloist on Malcolm Arnold's Serenade opus 50.

• Obrigado, Brazil (2003)

Sony Classical/SME SK 89935. NOTE: This album is by Yo Yo Ma; the Assads play on Sérgio's arrangement of the Villa-Lobos tune "A Lenda do Caboclo" and on Sérgio's piece "Menino".

• Obrigado, Brazil Live in Concert (2004)

Sony Classical/SME SK 90970. NOTE: This album is by Yo Yo Ma; the Assads play on seven of the 14 tracks.

• Live in Brussels (2004)

GHA 126.055. Features compositions by Bittencourt, Gardel, Piazzolla, Gismonti, Pixinguinha, and Chaplin.

• Three Double Concertos (2000)

GHA 126.046. NOTE: Sérgio and Odair are the soloists on Edino Krieger's "Concierto para dois violóes e cordas."

• Sérgio and Odair Assad and their Family: A Brazilian Songbook (2005)

GHA 126.058.

• Jardim Abandonado (2008)

Nonesuch/Elektra 79971

• Originis (2009)

NSS Music CD-NSS-07. NOTE: Recorded live in São Paulo with the Orquestra Sinfonica de São Paulo with Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.

Reviews

“They aren’t just soloists but a two-man, multi voice band of soloists who play instinctively well together, with consistent rhythmic intuition and soul.” - The Los
Angeles Times

“The Brazilian-born Assad brothers…perform with almost telepathic unity” – The Boston Globe

“… the best two-guitar team in existence, maybe even in history… no amount of anticipation could have prepared me for the Brazilian brothers’ daringly flexible, eerily unanimous ensemble playing – it was as if they could see inside each other’s heads.” - The Washington Post

“Throughout the concert, the brothers played as one… This was two persons, four hands, one mind.” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“A kind of wizardry lies within the playing of Sergio and Odair Assad… they produce a supple, flawless unified sound.” – The New York Times

“…Sergio and Odair, two of the finest guitarists on the planet.” – Journal Sentinel

“…it’s not hard to imagine that acoustic guitar music, when in the hands of masters like Sergio and Odair Assad, is a musical window into the heart.”- The New Jersey Star- Ledger

“Because they have been performing together for most of their lives, and because they play from memory, there is a lively interaction between them that creates the impression that they are improvising like a couple of virtuosic, perhaps even telepathic, jazz players” – The New York Times