As a child, Assad sang numerous jingles for radio and television, as well as albums including tracks for pop star Luiz Caldas and Brazilian soul musician Hyldon.

Assad studied piano and improvisation privately with Natalie Fortin, a professor from Le Conservatoire national Supérieur de Paris, and benefited also from her father's mentorship, composing, and arranging numerous pieces.

As she prepared to study for the entry college exams majoring in marine biology, her father Sergio had met astrophysicist Angela Olinto,[7] and moved to Chicago.

Her overtures Nhanderú [8] and Terra Brasilis, commissioned and premiered by the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo [9] are examples of her Brazilian roots, drawing on Assad's knowledge of the country's folk style and the work of fellow classical composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.

[11] Assad first came into the national spotlight in 2004, when conductor Marin Alsop[12] programmed her violin concerto with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music featuring Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg as the soloist.

[25] Her works have also been recorded by some of the most prominent names in the classical contemporary music scene today, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, pianist Anne-Marie McDermott[26] and oboist Liang Wang.

Her 2019 work, É Gol!,[41][42] which was inspired by the legendary female Brazilian soccer player Marta Vieira da Silva, is scored for full orchestra and features active participation by audience members singing, performing body percussion movements, and making sound effects.

Assad's first work for the stage was a soundtrack written for a 2001 adaptation of Argentinian playwright Carlos Mathus’s play La Lección de Anatomía, originally published in the 1970s.

Directed by an original cast member, Antonio Leiva, the space received mixed reviews but garnered the composer favorable mentions from the acclaimed theater critic Bárbara Heliodora.

Following a hiatus of over a decade, Assad resumed writing for the stage in 2010, when choreographer Kristi Spessard invited her—then in residency at Mabou Mines—to compose the score to her piece Essentials of Flor.

Recent works include the ballets Iara (2018),[43] and Sin Fronteras (2017), Opera das Pedras (libretto by Denise Milan, 2010) [44] and collaborations with librettist Niloufar Talebi (The Disinherited)[45] and playwright E.M. Lewis (The Crossing).

Most notable are Assad's partnerships with ZUMIX in East Boston and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra;[46][47] partnerships between the Michigan Philharmonic with WRCJ-FM Detroit public radio and the Detroit School of Arts;[48] as well as the collaboration with Girls INC. and the Albany Symphony that resulted in a pop piece based on Sojourner Truth’s speech “Ain’t I a Woman.” [49][50] Assad's projects tend on focus on social impact programs that involve empowering young women.

[52] Upon graduating from the University of Michigan, Assad moved to New York City to experience the exploding music scene, freelancing as a composer and arranger while trying to build a career as pianist and singer.

Included amongst the venues and series where Off the Cliff has appeared on are Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City and Doha, Qatar,[64] The Stone, Cal Performances in San Francisco, and Sesc São Paulo in Brazil.