Program Notes - San Francisco Performances

present
THE ASSADS
Sérgio and Odair Assad, guitars | Clarice Assad, piano, electric bass and vocals
Saturday, April 9, 2016 | 7:30pm
SFJAZZ Center
ALBENIZ
Two selections from Suite Iberia
DEBUSSY
Prelude from Suite bergamasque
BELLINATI Jongo
Evocacion
El Puerto
Sérgio & Odair
VILLA-LOBOS
Melodia Sentimental
S. ASSAD Cidade
CHOPIN/JOBIM Prelude No. 4 in E minor/Insensatez
G. LEVY Baião de 5
Sérgio, Odair & Clarice
INTERMISSION
M. NASCIMENTO Cravo E Canela
Ponta de Areia
Maria Maria
Clarice
C. ASSAD The Last Song
C. ASSAD/S. ASSAD Suite “Back to Our Roots”
Leaving
Nostalgia
Hope
Sérgio, Odair & Clarice
The Assads are represented by Opus 3 Artists, 470 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 opus3artists.com
Sérgio and Odair Assad play Thomas Humphrey guitars.
For Tickets and More: sfperformances.org | 415.392.2545
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ARTIST PROFILES
San Francisco Performances presents Sérgio
and Odair Assad for the seventh time; they
previously appeared in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2001,
2005 and 2009. Odair Assad also made a solo
appearance in 2013. Clarice Assad makes her
SF Performances debut.
Brazilian-born brothers Sérgio and Odair
Assad have created 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. Sérgio Assad has
added to their repertoire by composing music for the duo and for various musical partners both with symphony orchestra and in
recitals. They have worked extensively with
such renowned artists as Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Gidon Kremer and Dawn Upshaw.
Odair is based in Brussels where he teaches
at École Supérieure des Arts, while Sérgio
resides in San Francisco where he is on the
faculty of the SF Conservatory.
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.
2 | 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. In 2004, Sérgio and Odair arranged a
special tour featuring three generations
of the Assad family including their father,
Jorge Assad (1924-2011), on the mandolin
and the voice of their mother, Angelina
Assad. GHA Records released a live recording and a DVD of the Assad family live at
Brussels’ Palais des Beaux-Arts. In 2009
they were featured performers on James
Newton Howard’s soundtrack to the movie
Duplicity. In 2011 and 2012, the brothers
toured a project entitled De Volta as Raizes
(Back to Our Roots) with Lebanese-American singer Christiane Karam, percussionist
Jamey Haddad, and composer/pianist Clarice Assad. Also that season Sérgio Assad
premiered his concerto Phases with the
Seattle Symphony and was nominated for
two Latin Classical Grammys for his works
Interchange and Maracaípe.
Other recent touring projects include a
reunion of the Assad Family in Qatar and
across Europe with a finale at Le Palais des
Beaux Arts, a tour and recording with Paquito D’Rivera called Dances from the New
World, and a tour with jazz guitarist Romero
Lubambo. In 2015–2016 they have been on
tour with Yo-Yo Ma and other musicians from
the Silk Road Ensemble.
The Assads have made a number of recordings on Nonesuch and GHA including Sérgio
and Odair Assad Play Piazzolla and Jardim
Abandonado, which both received Latin
Grammys. They recorded Obrigado Brazil
with Yo-Yo Ma with Sérgio arranging several
of the works and were featured on Yo-Yo Ma’s
chart topping release, Songs of Joy & Peace,
alongside other guests as diverse as James
Taylor and Dave Brubeck. Both recordings
won Grammy awards.
In 2015, Sérgio and Odair celebrated their
50th anniversary as a duo. Their first ever
performance together was in the fall of 1965
on a Brazilian television show called Boussaude. The celebration included a 27-city
tour in Brazil followed by ten more in North
America, highlighted at the 92nd Street Y in
New York. The Guitar Foundation of America awarded the brothers with its Lifetime
Achievement Award in June 2015.
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
band leader. World premieres for the 2015–16 season
include Godai; The Five Elements, written in
collaboration with poet Steve Shroeder for
speaking pianist, commissioned and premiered by Inna Faliks at Barge Music in NYC;
Cirandadas, to be premiered by the Boston
Landmarks Symphony Orchestra in a joyful
collaboration with neighborhood ensembles
in music inspired by folk dance, storytelling
and memories of childhood; and Synchronous, an oboe concerto for Liang Wang and
string quartet to be premiered at the La Jolla
Music Festival. Early In 2016, Assad’s guitar
concerto O Saci-Pererê will be premiered by
Marc Teicholz at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the baton of conductor Nicole Paiement, and Sephardic Suite, a
20-minute piece for the Cavatina Duo and the
Avalon String Quartet will be premiered at
the Ravinia Festival. Assad’s music has also been commissioned
by Carnegie Hall, Fundação OSESP, the New
Century Chamber Orchestra, Concordia
Chamber Players, among others. Her works
have been recorded and performed by some
of the most prominent soloists and conductors today, including Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Yo-Yo Ma, Mike Marshall, the Turtle
Island String Quartet, LA Guitar Quartet,
Anne-Marie McDermott, Eugene Zuckerman, Ida Kadafian and Chanticleer, among
others. Internationally acclaimed orchestras
including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Tokyo
Symphony, Queensland Symphony, and the
Orquestra Sinfônica de São Paulo have performed her music.
Assad recently served as Composer-in-Residence for the Albany Symphony. She has also
been featured as a resident composer at the
Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and
is currently resident composer with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. Ms. Assad is the
recipient of such awards as the Aaron Copland Award, Meet The Composer’s Van Lier
Fellowship, League of American Orchestras,
New Music USA, NPR’s All Songs Considered,
the Jerome Foundation, American Composer
Forum, the Franklin Honor Society, as well as
a nomination from the Grammy Foundation
for best contemporary composition. As a performer, Assad 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, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, San Francisco Jazz, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Chicago, and Le Casino de Paris
in Paris, France. Hailed by the LA Times as “a
For Tickets and More: sfperformances.org | 415.392.2545
dazzling soloist,” Assad thrives in exploring
the voice as an instrument, creating a vast
array of innovative textures and incorporating an exciting vocabulary of extended techniques into her music. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree with
honors from the Roosevelt University and a
Master of Music degree from The University
of Michigan School of Music, where she studied with Michael Daugherty, Susan Botti and
Evan Chambers.
PROGRAM NOTES
Two selections from
Suite Iberia
Evocacion & El Puerto
ISAAC ALBENIZ
Born May 29, 1860, Camprodon
Died May 18, 1909, Cambo-les-Bains
The two pieces, Evocacion and El Puerto,
come from Book I of a group of four Books
that Albeniz named Suite Iberia. Suite Iberia
is considered Albeniz’s masterpiece being
one of the most demanding pieces in his classical piano’s repertoire. Each one of the four
books carries a set of three pieces to a total
of 12 pieces, which depict musical evocations
of Spain. Many of Albeniz’s works for piano
have been transcribed for the classical guitar,
but the Suite Iberia does not transcribe well to
the six strings instrument. However, with the
two-guitar combination the Suite Iberia can
be reorganized into a marvelously expressive
arrangement. The master Brazilian classical
guitarist Sérgio Abreu arranged these pieces
in the 1970’s adding another great piece to
the guitar duo repertoire.
Prelude from
Suite bergamasque
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Born August 22, 1862, Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Died March 25, 1918, Paris
The Suite Bergamasque originally written for piano comprises a set of four pieces
that Debussy started writing in 1890 but
only published in 1905. At the time of publication, Debussy named the four pieces as
Prelude, Menuet, the very famous Clair de
Lune, and Passepied. Sérgio Assad arranged
the whole Suite for two guitars. For the Prelude he chose the key of D dropping by a
third from the original key of F. The key of
D creates more opportunities for the use of
open strings releasing the full power of the
two guitars. The Prelude evokes the improvisatory character of the baroque style paying
tribute to the past.
original harmony for piano to create something closer to a guitar vocabulary.
Jongo
ANTÔNIO CARLOS JOBIM
Born January 25, 1927, Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro
Died December 8, 1994, New York City
PAULO BELLINATI
Born September 22, 1950, São Paulo
The Brazilian classical guitarist Paulo Bellinati is also a prolific composer. His oeuvre
for the classical guitar stands alongside historic names in Brazilian guitar music. Among
some of his best-known compositions is the
African-Brazilian piece named Jongo. A ceremonial dance brought to Brazil’s southeast
by African slaves, the Jongo is one of the rare
rhythms in compound meter cultivated in
Brazil. Most of Brazilian music is based on
2, 3 or 4 meters. The Jongo is conceived in a
6/8 meter compound differing from most of
the other rhythmic forms. Written as a solo
piece in the early 1980’s, Bellinati arranged
the piece for two guitars for the Assad Brothers. The two-guitar arrangement was played
extensively by the Assad Duo becoming an
international hit and has now been recorded
by many classical guitar duos around the
world. To provide some extra insight into the
origins of the piece, Bellinati wrote a percussion section where the guitars become percussive instruments.
Melodia Sentimental
HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS
Born March 5, 1887, Rio de Janeiro
Died November 17, 1959, Rio de Janeiro
Villa-Lobos is the most important classical
composer from Brazil. He produced a prolific
set of oeuvres and is recognized as among the
major composers of all time from South America. He wrote symphonic works, concertos,
ballets, operas, chamber choros, string quartets, etc. His music is in many aspects based
on the immensely rich Brazilian folklore. The
multicultural mixture of indigenous, African and European musical elements is fully
present in his music. Being himself a guitarist, he wrote a large collection of studies and
preludes for the classical guitar equivalent to
major contributions from major composers
for the piano, like Chopin or Liszt. The Melodia Sentimental here presented is part of the
work “A Floresta do Amazonas” (the Amazon
forest) composed for the film Green Mansions
by Mel Ferrer. The present arrangement done
by Sérgio Assad takes some liberty with the
For Tickets and More: sfperformances.org | 415.392.2545
Prelude No. 4 in E minor/
Insensatez
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN
Born March 1, 1810, Żelazowa Wola
Died October 17, 1849, Paris
The famous Prelude No. 4 in E minor by
Chopin is one of the most performed pieces
by professional and amateur pianists. This
beautiful piece provokes a melancholic emotion as the descendent harmony is presented
at the beginning of the piece. The famous
Brazilian composer Tom Jobim, who was a
pianist himself, probably learned the Chopin
Prelude while as he started his piano studies. His strong attraction to that particular
sequence of chords can be heard referenced
in one of his famous pieces named Insensatez
(How Insensitive). After the first recording in
the 1960’s, Insensatez has had many covers by
artists such as Stan Getz, Petula Clark and Ella
Fitzgerald among many others. Although Jobim’s song uses a harmony that is inspired by
Chopin’s Prelude No. 4, Insensatez has its own
shape and charm. This arrangement made by
Sérgio Assad intertwines both pieces in such
a way that they sound like one single piece,
which shares much of the same character.
Baião de 5
GABRIEL LEVY
Contemporary, São Paulo
The Baião is a rhythm from the north and
northeast of Brazil popularized by the socalled king of Baião, Luiz Gonzaga in the
1950’s. The Baião is set in a 4-meter rhythm
with a strong accent on the first beat and other
weaker but important accents on the upbeats.
The origin of the Baião is uncertain. It became
a popular dance in the 1950’s and gained international acclaim after its appearance in
the film Anna by Alberto Lattuada. The multiinstrumentalist Gabriel Levy from the state of
São Paulo in Brazil treated the Baião rhythm
in a similar way to how Dave Brubeck treated
American Jazz, adding an extra beat to the
regular 4/4 pulse creating the famous Take
5. The “Baião de 5” created by Levy adds an
extra beat to the regular Baião rhythm and
is composed in a system of call and answer
continued on page 4
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Assads Notes
continued from page 3
that requires a lot of vocal dexterity. The vocal lines are doubled by one of the guitars and
they constantly trade material. Some times
the main lines are presented in unison and
other times the exchange of material provides a
dispute between the voice and the guitars.
Cravo E Canela
Ponta de Areia
Maria Maria
writers. He became known in Brazil after the
release of his album Clube de Esquina in the
mid 1970s. His international breakthrough happened in 1974 with his collaborations with North
American musicians such as Wayne Shorter,
Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, and Quincy Jones,
among others. Clarice Assad arranged three of
Nascimento’s best-known songs transporting
them into her own personal and very sophisticated interpretation while serving the intention
of the composer from beginning to the end.
The Last Song
MILTON NASCIMENTO
Born October 26, 1942, Rio de Janeiro
CLARICE ASSAD
Born February 9, 1978, Rio de Janeiro
Milton Nascimento is perhaps the most innovative of all Brazilian popular composers. While
most of the well-known composers of his generation, such as Jobim, Veloso, Gil, and Buarque
de Holanda followed a similar harmonic path,
Nascimento created his own music from scratch.
Inspired by liturgical music that he heard in
dominical masses, his harmony deviates from
the regular tonal path of the other composers.
His harmonic material is unprecedented for
Brazilians and he is also one of the best melody
Clarice Assad is a prominent American-Brazilian composer. She is the eldest daughter of
Sérgio Assad. (Please see biography on page
19.) One of her most gentle pieces, “The Last
Song” has been the subject of multiple recording including the one done by Yo-Yo Ma in his
EP 2012 release Viva Brazil. Clarice prepared
multiple versions of this piece and the version
we will hear tonight was created for piano and
two guitars, especially for this occasion.
Suite “Back to Our Roots”
SÉRGIO ASSAD
Born December 26, 1952, Mococa, São Paulo
CLARICE ASSAD
Sérgio Assad and his daughter Clarice Assad
are part of an extensive group of nearly 10 million descendants of about two hundred thousand people that immigrated to Brazil coming from Lebanon and Syria in the turn of the
19th century to the 20th. Sérgio’s grand- and
Clarice’s great-grand-father moved to Brazil
to escape religious persecution, married an
Italian immigrant and had eight children. The
Suite Back to our Roots is a tribute paid to these
Assad ancestors. The Assads composed this
piece together and imagined the immigrant’s
journey as the subtitles describe. The first
movement, Leaving, depicts the start of the
trip from the port of Marseille, France, where
immigrants left the Mediterranean Sea facing
the unknown. Nostalgia is an improvisatory
section where the immigrants are presented
to their new world and its cultural differences.
There is a slight feeling of despair in the final
part of this movement. Hope is the third and
final movement where the integration in the
new society brings hope while the ancestral
home moves further into past as just a memory.
—Program notes by Sérgio Assad
4 | For Tickets and More: sfperformances.org | 415.392.2545