For the last guitar concert of the 49th season, the UNLV Performing Arts Center welcomes brothers Sérgio and Odair Assad who return to Las Vegas in their final tour together. The Brazilian-born duo will perform at the Artemus W. Ham Concert on Wednesday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m.
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 touring programs are a compelling blend of styles, periods and cultures stemming from a diverse repertoire. This includes folk, jazz and various styles of Latin music along with classical repertoire such as transcriptions of the great Baroque keyboard literature of Bach, Rameau, and Scarlatti and adaptations of works by Gershwin, Ginastera, and Debussy.
Sérgio Assad premiered his concerto Phases with the Seattle Symphony. They have also collaborated with such notable orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, 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. Other highlights include being featured performers on James Newton Howard’s soundtrack to the movie Duplicity; a touring project entitled De Volta as Raizes (Back to Our Roots) with Lebanese-American singer Christiane Karam, percussionist Jamey Haddad, and composer/pianist Clarice Assad; a tour and recording with Paquito D'Rivera called Dances from the New World; a tour with jazz guitarist Romero Lubambo; and tours with Yo-Yo Ma and other musicians from the Silkroad Ensemble.
The Assads have made several 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 James Taylor and Dave Brubeck. Both recordings won Grammy awards. Sérgio Assad was also nominated for two Latin Classical Grammys as a
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.
Single tickets are on sale now starting at $27.75 (discounts available). Tickets may be ordered online at pac.unlv.edu and can also be purchased in person at the PAC box office from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. When purchasing tickets, consider a donation to the UNLV PAC to provide local students the opportunity to work with this season’s artists and to help support programming during the UNLV PAC’s 50th Anniversary Season (2026-2027).
About UNLV Performing Arts Center
The UNLV Performing Arts Center is the original home for the arts in Southern Nevada; it opened in 1976 and celebrates its 49th season in 2025-26. A self-sustaining unit of UNLV, the PAC operates like many other arts organizations: costs for productions, some facilities improvements, and other projects come from ticket sales, rentals, and donations. It hosts a variety of performances and events and is home to self-produced events plus productions of the Nevada Conservatory Theatre, UNLV School of Music, UNLV Dance, the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus, among many other community arts presenters, and various Clark County School District fine arts festivals and concerts. For further information, visit pac.unlv.edu.
