CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS PROGRAM

Wednesday, April 10, 2013, 8pm Music for solo , announced from the stage Zellerbach Hall Paquito D’Rivera, clarinet Paquito D’Rivera (b. 1948) Afro

Paquito D’Rivera, clarinet Ástor Piazzolla (1921–1992) Milonga Per Tre with Piazzolla Escualo Sérgio Odair Assad, & guitars Antônio Carlos Jobim (1927–1994) Amparo

Jobim Stone Flower Dances from the New World Gabriel Levy Baião de 5

PROGRAM A Medley of Sambas Paquito D’Rivera, clarinet Sérgio & Odair Assad, guitars Aníbal Augusto Sardinha (1915–1955) Medley

Dilermando Reis (1916–1977) Dois Destinos

Baden Powell (1937–2000) Tempo Feliz

Sérgio & Odair Assad, guitars Cal Performances’ 2012–2013 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo.

Cristóvão Bastos (b. 1947) Todo Sentimento

Ernesto Lecuona (1896–1963) Conga de la Media Noche

Ariel Ramírez (b. 1921) Alfonsina y el Mar

Aaron Copland (1900–1990) Hoe-Down, from Rodeo

Alberto Ginastera (1916–1983) Malambo, from Estancia, Op. 8a

Paquito D’Rivera, clarinet Sérgio & Odair Assad, guitars

INTERMISSION

28 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 29 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES

Aníbal Augusto Sardinha (1915–1955) president of from 1956 to 1961 and found- captures the music’s buoyant mood: Happy time, as a pianist, and soon was touring with a popular Medley er of the country’s new capital city, Brasília), ap- let bygones be bygones, Time so full of memo- dance band known as Lecuona’s Cuban Boys, peared regularly in concert and on radio, and ries, So many songs he left, Bringing peace to so which enjoyed great success through its record- Aníbal Sardinha, born in 1915 in São Paulo recorded over 40 , playing not only many hearts. ings and its tours of Latin America, Europe, and to Portuguese immigrants, began playing gui- popular Brazilian music but also compositions the United States performing his own music tar, mandolin, banjo, and ukulele as a young- by Bach, Barrios, Tárrega, and Pernambuco as and that of other Latin . As a recit- ster and started performing in public when he well as his own works, for which he employed a Cristóvão Bastos (b. 1947) alist, Lecuona scored triumphs in concerts in was eleven, earning for himself the nickname particularly adventuresome harmonic style that Todo Sentimento New York (Aeolian Hall) and Paris (Salle Pleyel) “Garoto”—The Banjo Kid. Sardinha made his he playfully said might well “confuse accom- during the 1920s, and returned frequently to first recording four years later, and by then was panists.” In 1953, he toured the United States Composed in 1987. Havana during those years to produce his zarzu- playing with bands and as a soloist all around and recorded for Columbia. Reis died in Rio elas at the Teatro Martí. In addition to his musi- São Paulo province. In 1938, he moved to Rio in 1977. The gentle waltz melody Dois Destinos Cristóvão Bastos, born in in 1947, cal activities, Lecuona served for a period as an de Janeiro, where he performed in concerts (“Two Destinations”) has become a standard of is one of Brazil’s most admired pianists, com- attaché to the Cuban Legation in Washington, and broadcasts, recorded, composed, and col- the Latin American guitar literature. posers, and arrangers. He studied composition, receiving a gold medal in appreciation of his laborated with such leading Brazilian artists as accordion and as a youngster, made his services to his country at a nationally broad- guitarist Laurindo Almeida and singer, dancer, professional debut at age 18 in a suburban Rio cast ceremony in Havana. For a time, he lived and film star Carmen Miranda, who invited him (1937–2000) club, and has since performed, recorded, writ- in New York City, where he wrote for films and to tour the United States with her the follow- Tempo Feliz ten for television, film, and concert, and col- radio. On October 10, 1943, he presented a con- ing year. Sardinha became one of Brazil’s most laborated with many of the country’s leading cert of Cuban music at Carnegie Hall at which popular performers and composers, recording Composed in 1966. musical artists; he has won eight Sharp Awards, he premiered his Rapsodia Negra for Piano and bestselling albums and confirming the reputa- Brazil’s highest recognition for excellence in Orchestra. After Fidel Castro came to power in tion as “The Man with Golden Fingers” he had Baden Powell was one of the 20th-century’s popular music. Among Bastos’s many original 1959, Lecuona cut all his ties with Cuba, and earned on his American tour. He composed in foremost composers and performers of Latin works is the 1987 reverie Todo Sentimento (“All settled in the Canary Islands, where he died at the traditional Brazilian styles but brought to popular music. Born into a musical family in the Feeling”), with lyrics by , guitar- Santa Cruz de Tenerife on November 29, 1963. them a new sensibility that presaged the bossa Rio de Janeiro in 1937, Powell started playing ist, and poet Chico Buarque: After losing you, I’ll Though Lecuona, like George Gershwin, dem- nova craze of the 1950s. “It was not a transfor- guitar at age seven, won an amateur radio con- find you again for sure…maybe…in another time. onstrated his talent as a composer in the con- mation,” wrote the Brazilian pianist, composer, test two years later, and was performing profes- cert and operatic forms, his reputation endures and folklorist Waldemar Henrique. “It was a sionally by the time he was ten. He immersed principally through the many songs and piano long period of gestation when composers were himself in Brazilian classical and popular music Ernesto Lecuona (1896–1963) pieces that epitomize the popular idioms of his looking for modernity, breaking rules. The traditions and began broadcasting as a soloist Conga de la Media Noche country—Siboney, Jungle Drums, Malagueña, guide who prepared the approach of the bossa and vocal accompanist on Radio Nacional in La Comparsa, and a host of other compositions nova was Garoto.” Sardinha died in Rio in 1955 the late 1940s. He had his first hit as a composer Composed in 1930. embody for the world the spirit and style of at the age of just 39, when he was planning his in 1959 with Samba Triste, and three years later Latin music. The “Afro-Cuban dance” Conga de first tour to Europe. met the poet, lyricist, and composer Vinicius de Ernesto Lecuona was the Cuban analog of la Media Noche (“Midnight Conga,” 1930) re- Moraes, with whom he collaborated on some of George Gershwin—a composer of brilliant nat- flects the style and spirit of the popular conga the finest compositions of the emerging bossa ural gifts whose works exemplified the popular lines that wound through Cuba’s streets and Dilermando Reis (1916–1977) nova movement. In 1963, Powell moved to Paris, music of his country who also broached a more clubs during Carnival. Dois Destinos where he became one of the leading exponents of elevated expression in his compositions for the Brazilian music by performing, recording, and concert hall and operatic stage. Lecuona was Dilermando Reis was born in São Paulo in 1916 contributing to the soundtracks of such major born into a musical family in the Havana suburb Ariel Ramírez (b. 1921) but lived most of his life in Rio de Janeiro, where films as A Man and a Woman (1966), for which of Guanabacoa on August 7, 1896, and played Alfonsina y el Mar he established himself as one of Brazil’s best- he wrote Samba da Bencão. He lived and worked piano from an early age; he published his first known guitarists and composers. He first stud- for the next two decades primarily in Europe, song when he was eleven. He started teaching Ariel Ramírez has played a significant role ied guitar with his father and had progressed suf- but returned frequently to Brazil to perform and music in the city schools as a teenager while at- in incorporating the idioms of popular Latin ficiently by age seventeen to join the well-known record before again settling permanently in 1989 tending the National Conservatory in Havana, American music into concert compositions. blind guitarist Levino da Conceição on a tour in Rio de Janeiro, where he died in 2000. The from which he graduated in 1911. After further Born in 1921 in Santa Fe, Argentina, at the of Brazil. Reis settled in Rio, where he taught text that Brazilian poet and lyricist provided study with the noted Cuban pianist and com- junction of the Salado and Paraná Rivers, (his students included Juscelino Kubitschek, for Powell’s Tempo Feliz (“Happy Time,” 1966) poser Joaquín Nin, Lecuona began performing north of Buenos Aires, Ramírez discovered his

30 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 31 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES country’s folklore when he took a teaching job melodies, and its ebullient spirit. Hoe-Down Paquito D’Rivera (b. 1948) musical talents had been discovered by Carlos at age nineteen in the Argentinean interior. He borrows the traditional tunes Bonyparte and Afro Gardel, then the most famous of all performers absorbed the music of the Indians, gauchos, McLeod’s Reel to portray the foot-stomping, and composers of tangos and a cultural hero in and creoles during the next three years before country fiddling, and swaggering bravado of Composed in 2003. Argentina. At Gardel’s urging, the young Ástor formally studying piano and composition in this rousing Western square dance. moved to Buenos Aires in 1937, and joined the Buenos Aires and, after 1950, at the conserva- Since appearing as soloist with the National popular tango orchestra of Anibal Troilo as ar- tories of Madrid and Vienna. Upon returning Symphony Orchestra in the premiere of Roger ranger and bandoneón player. Piazzolla studied to Argentina, he established his reputation as Alberto Ginastera (1916–1983) Kellaway’s David Street Blues in 1988, Paquito classical composition with Alberto Ginastera in a composer with an extensive series of original “Malambo” from Estancia, Op. 8a D’Rivera has built a reputation as a classical Buenos Aires, and in 1954, he wrote a symphony songs in folk style that have been recorded by performer and composer whose works blend for the Buenos Aires Philharmonic that earned such leading artists as Plácido Domingo and Composed in 1941. Premiered on May 12, 1943, the influences of Cuban, African, American, him a scholarship to study in Paris with Nadia José Carreras. Ramírez earned his greatest fame, in Buenos Aires, conducted by Ferruccio Calusio. , popular, and classical idioms. He has ap- Boulanger. When Piazzolla returned to Buenos however, with the Misa Criolla of 1964, a set- peared as soloist and conductor with orchestras Aires in 1956, he founded his own performing ting of the Spanish version of the Catholic Mass Lincoln Kirstein, director of the American and chamber ensembles throughout the United group, and began to create a modern style for that became an international sensation when it Ballet Caravan, became familiar with States, Europe, Japan, and Latin America, the tango that combined elements of traditional was recorded by Philips. His stature in the musi- Argentinean composer Alberto Ginastera’s first and fulfilled commissions from the National tango, Argentinean folk music, and contempo- cal life of his country was recognized when he ballet, Panambi, during the company’s tour of Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, rary classical, jazz, and popular techniques into served as President of the Society of Authors and South America on 1941. Recognizing the young Chicago Chamber Musicians, Grant Park Music a nuevo tango that was as suitable for the concert Composers of the Republic of Argentina from composer’s genius, Kirstein commissioned from Festival, Ying , Ensemble Opus 21, and hall as for the dance floor. In 1974, Piazzolla 1970 to 1977. Alfonsina y el Mar is a transcrip- Ginastera Estancia, a stage work for the Ballet Imani Winds. He has received a Guggenheim settled again in Paris, winning innumerable tion of one of Ramírez’s best-known songs. Caravan with a scenario based on Argentine Fellowship in Music Composition and served enthusiasts for both his nuevo tango and for the country life. Though the company was disband- residencies with the Caramoor Center for traditional tango with his many appearances, ed the following year before it had performed Music and the Arts, New Jersey Performing recordings, and compositions. By the time that Aaron Copland (1900–1990) the new work, a suite of dances from the score Arts Center, and New Jersey Chamber Music he returned to Buenos Aires in 1985, he was “Hoe-Down,” from Rodeo was given on May 12, 1943, at Buenos Aires’ Society; in January 2008, he was signed by the regarded as the musician who had revitalized Teatro Colón which confirmed Ginastera’s po- prestigious music publisher Boosey & Hawkes. one of the quintessential genres of Latin music. Composed in 1942. Premiered on October 16, 1942, sition as a leading figure in Argentine musical D’Rivera wrote that Afro, originally com- Piazzolla continued to tour widely, record fre- in New York City, conducted by Franz Allers. life. (The full ballet was not staged until 1952, posed in 2003 for his concerts and the Sony re- quently, and compose incessantly until he suf- at the Colón.) The preface to the score notes of cording of Latin American music with Yo-Yo Ma fered a stroke in Paris in August 1990. He died The great success of Billy the Kid in the spring of the ballet’s scenario, “The deep and bare beauty titled Obrigado Brazil, is “a special tribute to the in Buenos Aires on July 5, 1992. 1938 prompted the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo of the land, its richness and natural strength, enormous African contribution to the arts and Piazzolla realized his electrifying blend of to commission Copland four years later to write constitutes the basis of Argentine life. This bal- culture of the New World.” The work touches on the fire and passion of the traditional tango with a second ballet on a cowboy theme; Agnes de let presents various daily aspects of the activities both the quiet, nostalgic side of Afro-Latin mu- the vast expressive resources of modern har- Mille was engaged to devise the scenario and of an ‘estancia’ (Argentine ranch), from dawn to sic as well as its more vibrant, dance-like quality. mony, texture, and sonority in some 750 widely the choreography. Copland worked quickly on dusk, with a symbolic sense of continuity. The varied works that explore the genre’s remarkable the score for Rodeo, composing it between May plot of the ballet shows a country girl who at first expressive range, from violent to sensual, from and September while teaching at Tanglewood. despises the man of the city. She finally admires Ástor Piazzolla (1921–1992) witty to melancholy, from intimate to theatri- The premiere in October was received enthusi- him when he proves that he can perform the Milonga Per Tre cal. Milonga Per Tre, one of Piazzolla’s deeply astically (“We took an extraordinary number of most rough and difficult tasks of the country.” Escualo moving creations, was composed in 1988, when curtain calls that night,” the composer recalled), The Malambo is brilliant and driving, largely his worldwide touring was abruptly brought to a and Rodeo has remained among Copland’s most built on short, recurring rhythmic and melodic Composed in 1988 and 1977. halt by the discovery of the heart condition that popular scores. The story of Rodeo is a simple patterns that accumulate enormous energy. would curtail his activities for the last four years one: a cowgirl, tough of hide but tender of heart, The greatest master of the modern tango of his life. Escualo—“shark” in Spanish—is searches for—and finds—a man from the prai- was Ástor Piazzolla, born in Mar del Plata, Piazzolla’s 1977 tango tribute to one of his fa- rie whom she can invite to the Saturday night Argentina, a resort town south of Buenos Aires, vorite pastimes: deep-sea fishing. dance. Copland’s music reflects the plot’s folksi- on March 11, 1921, and raised in New York ness and unaffected characters in its lean, un- City, where he lived with his father from 1924 cluttered style, its quotations of American folk to 1937. Before Ástor was ten years old, his

32 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 33 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES

Antônio Carlos Jobim (1927–1994) in New York of cancer, his widow, Ana, accept- food, floats, costumes, and performance styles. Amparo ed a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award The samba became an international craze during Stone Flower from the Recording Academy in his name at the the 1940s through recordings, broadcasts, and 2012 Grammy Award Ceremony. movies, most memorably the stage appearances Antônio Carlos Jobim—admiringly known as Jobim wrote the poignant Amparo as the love and 14 Hollywood films that the Brazilian sing- Tom in his native Brazil—was one of the 20th- theme for the 1970 film The Adventurers, based er, dancer, and actress Carmen Miranda made century’s most successful performers and song- on Harold Robbins’s well-known novel about between 1940 and 1953. The samba was an in- writers and a driving force in making Brazilian passion and revolt in South America. The infec- dispensible source of the bossa nova that João popular music known around the world. Jobim tious Stone Flower, the title track of Jobim’s 1970 Gilberto, Antônio Carlos Jobim, and others de- was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1927 and studied , is based on a Carnival dance from north- veloped in the 1950s, and has remained an essen- piano, composition and music theory while still eastern Brazil known as the maracatu. tial part of Brazilian musical life—December a teenager. He began writing songs and work- 2nd is celebrated throughout the country annu- ing as a pianist in the bars and nightclubs along ally as National Samba Day. Copacabana and Ipanema beaches in the mid- Gabriel Levy 1940s, and in 1952 was hired as an arranger by Baião de 5 the São Paulo record company Continental; his © 2013 Dr. Richard E. Rodda first recorded pieces were issued on the label the Accordionist, pianist, arranger, and composer following year. By 1956, when Jobim became ar- Gabriel Levy was trained in both classical and tistic director of Odeon Records, the Brazilian Brazilian popular music, and is today regarded subsidiary of EMI, his national reputation was as one of the country’s foremost musicians. already established, and the poet Vinícius de Levy has appeared as accordionist through- Moraes asked him to write the music for his play out South America and in Europe, Japan, and Orfeu da Conceição, which three years later cre- China in concerts and theatrical productions ated an international sensation in a film version with many Brazilian and international artists. as Black Orpheus. In 1959, the singer and guitar- He has taught at festivals, schools, and master ist João Gilberto included Jobim’s on classes in Brazil and Germany, and is on the fac- his album Chega de Saudade (“No More Blues”) ulty of the Universidade Livre de Música (“Free and the release became an artistic manifesto of Music University”) in São Paulo. In addition to a “new style” of music rooted in the traditional performing, composing and teaching, Levy is samba—bossa nova. also known as a choral conductor, record pro- The craze for bossa nova took hold in North ducer, and author of books on music education. America with the appearance of Jobim’s The Girl His Baião de 5 is modeled on a dance from the from Ipanema in 1962, the same year jazz greats northeastern part of Brazil that was popularized Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd recorded Desafinado in the 1940s by the accordionist Luiz Gonzaga. and Audio Fidelity records promoted a concert of bossa nova music at Carnegie Hall. Jobim made his first solo recording in 1963 and achieved A Medley of Sambas worldwide success unprecedented for a Brazilian musician during the following years: His 1965 The samba is the musical icon of Brazil. Rooted Getz/Gilberto collaboration with Stan Getz and in the dances brought from Africa by slaves, the Astrud Gilberto won four Grammy Awards, in- gestating samba mixed with other popular forms cluding Album of the Year; Frank Sinatra, Ella late in the 19th century, largely in the coastal Fitzgerald, and other leading pop artists record- state of Bahia and around São Paulo, and became ed his songs; he toured widely and recorded pro- recognized as a distinct genre by 1917, when the lifically; he worked on numerous film and televi- first recording of a number titled Pelo Telefone sion soundtracks; he received honorary doctor- (“By Telephone”) achieved wide popularity. The ates from universities in Brazil and Portugal. dance was soon associated with Carnival in Rio, Eighteen years after Antônio Carlos Jobim died where it nurtured an entire culture of music,

34 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 35 ABOUT THE ARTISTS ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Orchestra, among others. In his passion to Another commission came about through bring Latin repertoire to greater prominence, ensemble Opus 21’s interest in building bridges Mr. D’Rivera has successfully created, champi- between audiences of different backgrounds. oned, and promoted all types of classical com- Dedicated to the works and art music of the positions, including his three chamber composi- 21st century, Opus 21 commissioned The Chaser tions recorded live in concert with distinguished and premiered it in May 2006. In 2005, Imani cellist Yo-Yo Ma in September 2003. The cham- Winds, a woodwind quintet committed to the ber work Merengue, from that live concert at exploration of diverse world music traditions Zankel Hall, was released by Sony Records and and the broadening of the traditional wind garnered Mr. D’Rivera his seventh Grammy as quintet literature, commissioned Kites. This Best Instrumental Composition 2004. work personifies freedom and the vision that In addition to his extraordinary perform- liberty and independence have a foundation ing career as an instrumentalist, Mr. D’Rivera through culture and music. Just as a kite may has rapidly gained a reputation as an accom- fly freely, its path continues to be bound to the plished composer. The prestigious music house, earth–its foundation, by the string. Boosey & Hawkes, is the exclusive publisher Mr. D’Rivera is the author of two books: My of Mr. D’Rivera’s compositions. Recent rec- Sax Life, published by Northwestern University ognition of his compositional skills came with Press, and a novel, Oh, La Habana, published the award of a 2007 John Simon Guggenheim by MTeditores, Barcelona. He is the recipient Fellowship in Music Composition, and the of the NEA Jazz Masters Award 2005 and the 2007–2008 appointment as Composer-in- National Medal of the Arts 2005, as well as the Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music Living Jazz Legend Award from the Kennedy Paquito D’Rivera (clarinet) defies categoriza- 15-piece ensemble organized by Dizzy Gillespie and the Arts with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Center, Washington, D.C. in 2007. His numer- tion. The winner of eleven Grammy Awards, he to showcase the fusion of Latin and Caribbean As part of the Caramoor Latin American mu- ous other honors include doctorates honoris cau- is celebrated both for his artistry in Latin jazz influences with jazz. Mr. D’Rivera continues sic initiative Sonidos Latinos, Mr. D’Rivera’s sa in music (from the Berklee School of Music and his achievements as a classical composer. to appear as guest conductor. A Grammy was new concerto for double bass and clarinet/saxo- in Boston and the University of Pennsylvania), Born in Havana, Cuba, he performed at awarded to the United Nation Orchestra in phone, Conversations with Cachao, pays tribute and the Jazz Journalist Association’s Clarinetist age ten with the National Theater Orchestra, 1991, the same year Mr. D’Rivera received a to Cuba’s legendary bass player, Israel “Cachao” of the Year Award in both 2004 and 2006. In studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music, Lifetime Achievement Award from Carnegie López. Mr. D’Rivera’s works often reveal his 2008, Mr. D’Rivera received the International and, at 17, became a featured soloist with the Hall for his contributions to Latin music. In ad- widespread and eclectic musical interests, which Association for Jazz Education President’s Cuban National Symphony. As a founding dition, Mr. D’Rivera’s highly acclaimed ensem- range from Afro-Cuban rhythms and melodies, Award and the Frankfurter Musikpreis in member of the Orquesta Cubana de Musica bles—the Chamber Jazz Ensemble, the Paquito including influences encountered in his many Germany, the Medal of Honor from the Moderna, he directed that group for two years, D’Rivera Big Band, and the Paquito D’Rivera travels, back to his classical origins. Inspiration National Arts Club in 2009. In 2010, he was while at the same time playing both the clari- Quintet—are in great demand worldwide. for another recent composition, The Cape Cod named a Nelson A. Rockefeller Honoree and net and saxophone with the Cuban National While Mr. D’Rivera’s discography reflects a Files, comes from such disparate sources as Benny given the African-American Classical Music Symphony Orchestra. He eventually went on to dedication and enthusiasm for jazz, bebop, and Goodman’s intro to the Eubie Blake popular Award from Spelman College. He received premiere several works by notable Cuban com- Latin music, his contributions to classical music song “Memories of You,” Argentinean milonga, his tenth and eleventh Grammys this year for posers with the same orchestra. Additionally, are impressive. They include solo performances improvisations on the music of Cuban composer Panamericana Suite as Best Latin Album and he was a founding member and co-director of with the London Philharmonic, the London Ernesto Lecuona, and North American boogie- Best Classical Contemporary Composition, the innovative musical ensemble Irakere. With Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic woogie. His numerous commissions include adding to his previously awarded eighth and its explosive mixture of jazz, rock, classical, and Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, compositions for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the ninth Grammys for Riberas (Best Classical traditional Cuban music never before heard, the Baltimore Symphony, the Florida Library of Congress, the National Symphony Recording) and Funk Tango (Best Latin Jazz Irakere toured extensively throughout America Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Album 2008). Mr. D’Rivera is the first artist to and Europe, won several Grammy nominations Philharmonic. He has also performed with the Turtle Island String Quartet, the Ying String win Latin Grammys in both Classical and Latin (1979, 1980) and a Grammy Award (1979). Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, the Costa Quartet, the International Double Reed Jazz categories—for Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du His numerous recordings include more Rica National Symphony, the Simón Bolívar Society, Syracuse University, Montreal’s Gerald Soldat and Brazilian Dreams with New York than 30 solo albums. In 1988, he was a found- Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, the Bronx Danovich Saxophone Quartet, and the Grant Voices. He has served as artistic director of ing member of the United Nation Orchestra, a Arts Ensemble, and the St. Luke’s Chamber Park Music Festival. jazz programming at the New Jersey Chamber

36 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 37 ABOUT THE ARTISTS ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Music Society and continues as Artistic Director Francisco, where he is on the faculty of the San seasons, the brothers toured a project entitled De Future plans include performances of a of the famous world-class Festival Internacional Francisco Conservatory. Volta as Raizes (“Back to Our Roots”), featuring new duo guitar concerto written for Sérgio de Jazz de Punta del Este in Uruguay and the The Assad’s repertoire includes original mu- Lebanese-American singer Christiane Karam, and Odair by Sérgio’s daughter Clarice Assad, D.C. Jazz Festival in Washington, D.C., and, in sic composed by Sérgio Assad and his rework- percussionist Jamey Haddad, and composer- to be premiered at the Pro-Musica Chamber its second year, Jazz Patagonia 2013 in Chile. ings of folk and jazz music, as well as Latin mu- pianist Clarice Assad. Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio. In fall 2012 the In 1999, and in celebration of its 500-year sic of almost every style. Their standard classical In February 2011, Odair Assad performed brothers returned to the University of Arizona history, the Universidad de Alcala de Henares repertoire includes transcriptions of the great his first solo guitar concert tour in North in Tucson as visiting artists with support from presented Mr. D’Rivera with a special award Baroque keyboard literature of Bach, Rameau, America, giving concerts in New York and the D’Addario Family Foundation. They will recognizing his contribution to the arts, his hu- and Scarlatti and adaptations of works by such Montreal. Sérgio Assad has written another headline the fourth International Tucson Guitar mane qualities, and his defense of rights and lib- diverse figures as Gershwin, Ginastera, and concerto for his duo, entitled Phases. It was pre- Festival with two performances at Holsclaw Hall erties of artists around the world. The National Debussy. Their touring programs are always a miered with the Seattle Symphony in February and master classes for advanced guitar students. Endowment for the Arts website affirms that compelling blend of styles, periods, and cultures. 2011. In the meantime, he has been nominated In spring 2013, Sérgio and Odair tour with their “he has become the consummate multinational The Assads are also recognized as prolific for yet two more Latin Classical Grammys in much loved trio featuring the inimitable Paquito ambassador, creating and promoting a cross- recording artists, primarily for the Nonesuch the Best Classical Composition Category for D’Rivera, as well as release a recording of their culture of music that moves effortlessly among and GHA labels. In 2001, Nonesuch Records his piece for the L.A. Guitar Quartet and the project, entitled Dances from the New World. jazz, Latin, and Mozart.” released Sérgio and Odair Assad Play Piazzolla, Delaware Symphony entitled Interchange, and which later won a Latin Grammy Award. Their for Maracaipe for the Beijing Guitar Duo. In fall Paquito D’Rivera and Sérgio and Odair Assad Brazilian-born brothers Sérgio and Odair Assad seventh Nonesuch recording, released in fall 2011, five members of the Assad family—Sérgio, are represented exclusively by Opus 3 Artists, (guitars) have set the benchmark for all other 2007, is called Jardim Abandonado, after a piece Odair, Badi, Clarice, and Carolina—joined to- 470 Park Avenue South, Ninth Floor North, guitarists by creating a new standard of guitar by Antônio Carlos Jobim. It was nominated for gether again for another evening of new and fa- New York, New York 10016. innovation, ingenuity, and expression. Their ex- Best Classical Album, and Sérgio went on to win vorite Brazilian works. Their tour included stops ceptional artistry and uncanny ensemble play- the Latin Grammy for his composition Tahiiyya in Qatar, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands ing come from both a family rich in Brazilian Li Oussilina. (to open the “Brazil Festival”) at the Amsterdam musical tradition and from studies with the A Nonesuch collaboration with Nadja Concertgebouw, and three concerts in Belgium, guitarist/lutenist Monina Távora (1921–2011), a Salerno-Sonnenberg in 2000 featured a collec- with a finale at the Palais des Beaux-Arts disciple of Andrés Segovia. In addition to set- tion of pieces based on traditional and gypsy in Brussels. ting new performance standards, the Assads folk tunes from around the world. In 2003, The Assad brothers’ collaboration with cel- have played a major role in creating and intro- Sérgio Assad wrote a triple concerto for this list Yo-Yo Ma is ongoing. In 2003, the Brazilian ducing new music for two guitars. Their virtu- trio that has been performed with the orches- record Obrigado Brazil was released, featur- osity has inspired a wide range of composers to tras of São Paulo, Seattle, and the Saint Paul ing Rosa Passos, Egberto Gismonti, and Cyro write for them, including Ástor Piazzolla, Terry Chamber Orchestra. In summer 2004, Sérgio Baptista. Sérgio arranged several of the works Riley, Radamés Gnattali, Marlos Nobre, Nikita and Odair arranged a very special tour featuring on the disc, which captured a Grammy in 2004. Koshkin, Roland Dyens, Jorge Morel, Edino three generations of the Assad family. The fam- In 2009, the brothers were featured on Mr. Ma’s Krieger, and Francisco Mignone. Now Sérgio ily presented a wide variety of Brazilian music chart-topping release Songs of Joy and Peace, Assad is adding to their repertoire by compos- featuring their father, Jorge Assad (1924–2011), which features other guest artists as diverse as ing music for the duo and for various musical on the mandolin and the voice of mother, James Taylor and Dave Brubeck. In the piece partners both with symphony orchestras and in Angelina Assad. GHA Records has released a Familia, Mr. Ma plays Sérgio’s composition, fea- recitals. They have worked extensively with such live recording and a DVD of the Assad family turing mother Angelina Assad, sister Badi, and renowned artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Nadja Salerno- live at Brussels’ Palais des Beaux-Arts. In the children Clarice, Rodrigo, and Carolina. The Sonnenberg, Fernando Suárez Paz, Paquito 2006–2007 season, the Assad brothers per- release topped both the classical and the main- D’Rivera, Gidon Kremer, and Dawn Upshaw. formed Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto Madrigal stream Billboard charts and won a Grammy for The Assads began playing the guitar to- for two guitars and Sérgio’s of Best Classical Crossover. In April 2012, Sérgio gether at an early age and went on to study for Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires with the and Odair toured North America with Mr. Ma seven years with Dona Monina. Their interna- Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood and pianist Kathryn Stott, in a program of Latin tional career began with a major prize at the Bowl. The Assads were also featured perform- American works as arranged by Sérgio as well as 1979 Young Artists Competition in Bratislava. ers on James Newton Howard’s soundtrack to some of his original compositions, highlighted Odair is based in Brussels, where he teaches at the movie Duplicity, starring Julia Roberts and by concerts at the new Smith Center in Las École Supérieure des Arts. Sérgio resides in San Clive Owen. In the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 Vegas and Chicago’s Symphony Hall.

38 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 39