Santa Barbara has seen and heard from the profoundly talented Assad family, from Brazil, in various permutations. Brothers Sérgio and Odair Assad, one of the world’s most respected classical guitar duos, has shown up on a few occasions, including a “chamber music in historic places” style concert in the Santa Barbara Courthouse Mural Room.
Composer and pianist Clarice, a generation down, has played here both in person and has been represented in concerts through the Camerata Pacifica (which commissioned the 2024 world premiere of Clarice’s work), at a CAMA-presented Sphinx Virtuosi concert just last May.
In the latest local Assad sighting-sounding, the auspicious father-daughter pairing of Sérgio and Clarice are set to perform at Campbell Hall on October 21, presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures. The program promises to be a selective tour of Brazilian music, and the creative brain-scapes of both Assads.
Both musicians have become entrenched in music worlds, in and beyond classical circles. With and without his brother in guitaristic tow, Sérgio has worked in various capacities with such notable artists as Gidon Kremer, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Yo-Yo Ma, and Paquito D’Rivera. Meanwhile, with an oeuvre of more than 70 titles by now, Clarice has spanned classical, jazz, pop and so-called “world music” with her work as player, vocalist, and composer.
Campbell Hall’s appearance zooms in on things musically Brazilian, both in terms of reinterpreted songs from that musical hot spot and by these Brazilians.
Asked about the prominence of guitar in Brazil, Sérgio offered a broad historical perspective, mentioning that his father, an influence force on the family musical gene pool, actually played mandolin. He pointed out that “the guitar has been used as an instrument to provide accompaniment for singers through the centuries. But it always stayed on a level: If we have to divide society in layers, that was meant for the lower class.”
And at Campbell Hall, we’ll hear the fruits of a family lineage cutting across both piano and guitar, with an internationally validated imprimatur and echoes of past Santa Barbara landings.
Sérgio and Clarice Assad perform at UCSB’s Campbell Hall Wednesday, October 21, 7:30 p.m. See artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.
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