Enjoy the concert that precedes this master class on Saturday, February 14, 2026, 7:00 PM -- PSU Guitar Series Presents: The Assad Brothers - 60th Anniversary Farewell Tour.
The Portland State University School of Music & Theater welcomes Sérgio and Odair Assad for a public masterclass featuring selected student performers. Widely regarded as one of the most influential guitar duos in the history of the instrument, the Assad Brothers bring decades of international performance, recording and pedagogical experience to this intensive educational setting.
In this traditional classical guitar masterclass, selected soloists will perform prepared repertoire and receive individual coaching from the Assads. Instruction will focus on interpretive depth, rhythmic flexibility, tone production, ensemble awareness (where applicable), and stylistic considerations drawn from Latin American, Brazilian and classical traditions. Particular attention will be given to musical structure, phrasing, articulation and the integration of popular and folk idioms within a classical framework.
Educated under Monina Távora, a direct disciple of Andrés Segovia, Sérgio and Odair Assad combine rigorous classical technique with a lifelong engagement in transcription, arrangement, and composition. Their work has shaped the modern guitar repertoire through collaborations with composers such as Astor Piazzolla, Terry Riley, Radamés Gnattali and Roland Dyens, as well as through Sérgio Assad’s widely performed original works and arrangements.
This masterclass offers students and audience members a rare opportunity to observe world-class artists engage deeply with the pedagogical process—illuminating not only technical and musical problem-solving, but also broader questions of style, tradition and artistic identity in contemporary classical guitar performance.
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