Struming siblings: Assad Brothers tune up for guitar fest
Starting on Thursday, for a mere $25 -- less than the price of the cheapest high balcony seat at Chicago's Symphony Center-- guitar aficionados can attend world-class classical guitar performances in Evanston.
The 2008 Segovia Classical Guitar Series, named after Spanish classical guitar legend Andrés Segovia, kicks off with The Assad Brothers' Brazilian Guitar Festival at Northwestern University's Pick-Staiger Hall.
Guitarist brothers Sergio and Odair Assad will play Brazilian rhythms along with their sister, guitarist and vocalist Badi Assad, jazz guitarist Romero Lubambo and guitarist, percussionist and vocalist Celso Machado.
This will be the Assads' third show in Evanston in the last five years, said Richard Van Kleeck, director of concert activities for Northwestern's School of Music. "We are very excited to have them back," he said. "They are just phenomenal."
Sergio Assad, 55, lives in Chicago, while brother Odair, 51, lives in Belgium and sister Badi, 45, in Brazil. Despite the distances, the siblings perform together several times per year, Sergio Assad said.
"Me and my brother play in a more conventional classical way, while my sister plays world music, nearly pop," he said. "We play quite a lot together, we are constantly on the road."
The siblings grew up in a musical family, with their father playing "choro," a traditional type of Brazilian music, on the mandolin. The brothers began playing guitar when Sergio was 12 and Odair was 8, and a few years later the family moved from their native small town to Rio de Janeiro so they could pursue a professional career.
"My brother and I have been playing together for so long that we somehow blend as one person, one bigger guitar," Sergio Assad said.
The family's musical talent extends to the Assads' children, now in their 20s. Sergio's daughter is a pianist, vocalist and composer, and Odair's daughter is a singer. The siblings have also performed on stage with their parents, who traveled outside of Brazil for the first time to take the stage in Evanston five years ago, Sergio Assad said.
Thursday's performance will blend different types of music with the improvisational skills of Lubambo, whom Sergio Assad called "one of the finest Brazilian jazz guitarists," and the creativity of Machado, "a showman" who sings and plays percussion.
Collaborating with other artists is always an enriching experience that teaches him even more about music, said Sergio Assad, who has performed with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.
The Brazilian Guitar Festival is the first of six concerts part of the Segovia series. The others will be: Spain's Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company (Feb. 18), David Russell (March 1), Oscar Ghiglia (April 12), Raphaella Smits (April 26) and The Waller and Maxwell Guitar Duo and Friends (May 4).
"We bring artists who are of the highest quality, and that work well with the hall that we have," Van Kleeck said. "They have to have the draw."
The Assad Brothers, Paco Peña and David Russell will play at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, which seats just under 1,000, while the other performances will take place at Rutkin Recital Hall, which seats about 400.
p class="factboxheadblack">If you go
What: Assad Brothers' Brazilian Guitar Festival
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, in Northwestern University's Evanston campus.
Tickets: $25 general public, $21 seniors, $10 students
Info: For tickets call (847) 467-4000 or visit www.pickstaiger.org