The Assad Family Tour Comes to the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center

The Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center is pleased to announce The Assad Family Tour will stop in the Byers Theatre on Sunday, November 4, 2018.  Tickets are $35 and $45 and go on-sale Friday, October 5, 2018.

Brazilian-born brothers Sérgio and Odair Assad have set the benchmark for all other guitarists by creating a new standard of guitar innovation, ingenuity and expression. Their exceptional artistry and uncanny ensemble playing come from a family rich in Brazilian musical tradition and studies under guitarist/lutenist Monina Távora, a disciple of Andrés Segovia. Their virtuosity has inspired a wide range of composers to write for them including Astor Piazzolla, Terry Riley, Radamés Gnattali, Marlos Nobre, Nikita Koshkin, Roland Dyens, Jorge Morel, Edino Krieger, and Francisco Mignone.

The Assad Brothers began playing together at an early age, and their international career began with a major prize at the 1979, Young Artists Competition in Bratislava. Their repertoire explores folk, jazz and various styles of Latin music. Their classical repertoire includes transcriptions of the great Baroque keyboard literature of Bach, Rameau, and Scarlatti and adaptations of works by Gershwin, Ginastera, and Debussy; thus making their touring programs a compelling blend of styles, periods and cultures.

They have collaborated with such notable orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the orchestras of São Paulo and Seattle, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. 

Brazilian-American Clarice Assad is a Grammy-nominated composer, pianist, and vocalist of musical depth and ability.  Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as "a serious triple threat," Assad is equally comfortable as a performer and bandleader. 

As a performer, Clarice has received acclaim for her performances of both original compositions and her own arrangements of popular Brazilian songs, world music, and jazz standards.  She has performed at venues including Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City and Qatar, Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Concertgebow in Amsterdam, San Francisco Jazz, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Chicago, and Le Casino de Paris in Paris, France. 

Badi Assad is a gifted guitar player, singer, vocal juggler and songwriter from São Paulo, revered as one of the most prolific and virtuosic artists of her generation. The Los Angeles Times remarked “Badi Assad redefines solo (guitar) performance. Revelatory, a brilliant display of innovation, imagination, and skill…almost hypnotically compelling.”

Badi Assad has collaborated Bobby McFerrin, Sarah McLaughlin, Larry Coryell and John Abercrombie, among others. She has represented Brazil in the acclaimed festivals “Farm Aid” and “Lilith Fair." Her song Waves was featured in the film “It Runs in the Family” with Michael and Kirk Douglas.