A prolific composer and guitarist, Sérgio Assad has been a transformative figure in the evolution of the classical guitar repertoire. His compositions span solo, chamber, and orchestral works, many of which have become central to the modern guitar canon. He has appeared with leading orchestras including the Seattle Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. His concerto Phases was premiered with the Seattle Symphony, and he is currently composing a new concerto for Yo-Yo Ma.

Assad’s artistic identity has been shaped in part by his role as one half of the Assad Brothers, the groundbreaking duo he formed with his brother Odair. Since their international breakthrough in 1979, the duo has developed a distinctive voice that bridges classical repertoire with Brazilian, Latin, and jazz influences. Their collaborations have included appearances with Yo-Yo Ma, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Gidon Kremer, Dawn Upshaw, Paquito D’Rivera, and artists associated with the Silkroad Ensemble. In 2026, the Assad Brothers celebrated their 60th anniversary with a North American tour and a recording devoted to Sérgio Assad’s compositions.

A vital aspect of Assad’s work is his collaboration with his daughter, composer and pianist Clarice Assad. Their projects reflect a dynamic intergenerational dialogue, blending classical forms with improvisation, global music traditions, and contemporary influences. This collaboration builds on a broader family legacy that has included multi-generational performances, and continues in recent projects such as Archetypes, created and recorded with Third Coast Percussion, which showcases their shared interest in cross-genre exploration.

Assad’s extensive discography includes numerous recordings on Nonesuch and GHA, among them Sérgio and Odair Assad Play Piazzolla and Jardim Abandonado, both of which received Latin GRAMMY Awards. He also arranged and performed on Obrigado Brazil with Yo-Yo Ma and appeared on Yo-Yo Ma’s Songs of Joy & Peace alongside other guests including James Taylor and Dave Brubeck. Both albums received GRAMMY Awards. As a composer, he has received multiple Latin GRAMMY nominations for works including Interchange and Maraeaipe. In recognition of their enduring impact on the field, The Assads were honored with the Guitar Foundation of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

Grammy Award–nominated composer, pianist, vocalist, and educator Clarice Assad is one of the most compelling and versatile creative voices in contemporary music. Born in Rio de Janeiro and fluent in five languages, the Brazilian-American artist—now based in Chicago—is celebrated for her evocative colors, rich textures, and fearless range across classical, world, jazz, and pop idioms.

In February 2026, the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded Assad the Andrew Imbrie Award in Music, recognizing a mid-career composer of demonstrated artistic merit. The previous year, she received the 2025 Meier Achievement Award from the Helen Coburn Meier and Tim Meier Charitable Foundation for the Arts, honoring Chicago-area artists who push the artistic envelope. That same month, she delivered the Kageyama-Hunt Global Speaker Series address at Belmont Hill School, a distinguished lecture series dedicated to global citizenship. In March 2026, her new string quartet work NEXUS received its New York premiere at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, performed by the Takács Quartet. Praised by the New York Classical Review and featured in The Strad under the headline “Let’s Clarice It Up,” the work guides four players through a dramatic arc of individuality, collision, and dissolution—asking, through music and choreography, what it truly means to play as one.

With more than 130 works to her credit, Assad has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the LA Philharmonic, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and many others. Her music has been recorded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, and violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and released on Cedille Records, SONY Masterworks, and Nonesuch. Her album Archetypes— recorded with her father, guitarist Sérgio Assad, and Third Coast Percussion—earned two Grammy nominations in 2022 for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

She is currently composer-in-residence with the Allentown Symphony (2023–2027) and the Albany Symphony (2024–27), and has previously held residencies at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, New Century Chamber Orchestra, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. Her music consistently invites audiences inside it: her orchestral work É Gol!, inspired by Brazilian soccer legend Marta Vieira da Silva, has full audiences singing, performing body percussion, and making sound effects—what Classical Voice North America called the work of someone “like one of those cooks who can turn any four random foodstuffs into a feast.”

As a performer, she has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Le Casino de Paris, sharing stages with Bobby McFerrin, Paquito D’Rivera, and Anat Cohen. Through her VOXploration education series—presented worldwide at institutions including the Juilliard School, the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, and theUniversity of Michigan, and supported by New Music USA and the McKnight Foundation—she brings music creation and improvisation to participants of all ages and backgrounds.

Assad holds a Bachelor of Music from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a Master of Music from the University of Michigan. Her many honors include the Andrew Imbrie Award (American Academy of Arts and Letters), the Meier Achievement Award, the Aaron Copland Award, a Morton Gould Young Composer Award, a McKnight Visiting Composer Award, the Van Lier Fellowship, and multiple ASCAP composition awards.

Eric Wang is a classical guitarist based in San Jose, California. Winner of the 2026 Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) International Concert Artist Competition, he is recognized as one of the leading young guitarists of his generation. As winner of the Rose Augustine Grand Prize, he will embark on GFA's acclaimed concert tour in the 2027-28 concert season.

Eric has collaborated with a wide range of artists in both traditional and innovative ensemble settings, as a chamber musician, composer, and arranger. His recent performances include collaborations with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra, the Viano String Quartet, and the Stanford based Ensemble Oh?, reflecting a broad interest in both traditional chamber music settings and expansion of the guitar repertoire in unique ensemble settings.

Prior to winning the GFA International Concert Artist Competition, Eric received top prizes at numerous national and international competitions, including the 2024 Boston Guitar Festival Competition, 2019 Parkening International Guitar Competition (Youth Division), 2022 James Stroud Guitar Competition, and much more. He is the only three time winner of the GFA, having won the International Youth Competition Junior Division in 2018 and the Senior Division in 2020. He was featured on NPR's *From the Top* in 2019, was named a 2020 National YoungArts Finalist, and was a semifinalist for the 2022 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts. He also reached the semifinals of the GFA International Concert Artist Competition three consecutive times (2022–2024) before winning the competition in 2026.

Eric began studying guitar at the age of four with Robert Miller at the California Conservatory of Music. He has participated in masterclasses and received artistic guidance from many guitar legends, including Sérgio Assad, Manuel Barrueco, Zoran Dukić, Eliot Fisk, Tilman Hoppstock, Judicaël Perroy, David Russell, Raphaella Smits, Meng Su, David Tanenbaum, Benjamin Verdery, and many others. Eric earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music and Bachelor of Science in Physics from Stanford University in 2026. He studied primarily with pianist Stephen Prutsman, who also served as his guitar mentor in a unique environment of musical coaching. He plans to continue his studies at Stanford as a master's student in Electrical Engineering.