At the age of 17, he and Odair began their studies under the best known classical guitar teacher in Brazil at the time, Monina Tavora, a former disciple of Andrés Segovia.

Assad has taught master classes in conservatories, universities, and music schools in the US, Europe, Latin America, Japan, and Australia.

[3] The Assad Brothers have collaborated in performance and recordings with classical artists Gidon Kremer, Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, the Turtle island Quartet and Paquito D’Rivera.

This piece celebrates the respective Italian and Brazilian roots of Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and the Assad Duo and has been performed with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra among others and recorded live in São Paulo, Brazil with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo.

[4] “They aren’t just soloists but a two-man, multi voice band of soloists who play instinctively well together, with consistent rhythmic intuition and soul.” - The Los Angeles Times[7] “The Brazilian-born Assad brothers…perform with almost telepathic unity” – The Boston Globe[8] “… the best two-guitar team in existence, maybe even in history… no amount of anticipation could have prepared me for the Brazilian brothers’ daringly flexible, eerily unanimous ensemble playing – it was as if they could see inside each other's heads.” - The Washington Post “Throughout the concert, the brothers played as one… This was two persons, four hands, one mind.” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer “A kind of wizardry lies within the playing of Sergio and Odair Assad… they produce a supple, flawless unified sound.” – The New York Times[9] “…Sergio and Odair, two of the finest guitarists on the planet.” – Journal Sentinel “…it’s not hard to imagine that acoustic guitar music, when in the hands of masters like Sergio and Odair Assad, is a musical window into the heart.”- The New Jersey Star- Ledger “Because they have been performing together for most of their lives, and because they play from memory, there is a lively interaction between them that creates the impression that they are improvising like a couple of virtuosic, perhaps even telepathic, jazz players” – The New York Times[10]