Badi Assad, Brazil: Younger sister of Sergio and Odair Assad, the famous classical guitarists ‘Duo Assad’. Her guitar studies began in earnest at age fourteen. In 1984 she won the Concurso Jovens Instrumentistas for Young Musicians and was well on her way to developing her own creative direction. In 1987, she was named “Best Brazilian Guitarist of the International Villa Lobos Festival.” A year later, she recorded her first solo album, entitled Danca dos Tons which was only released in Brazil. The following year she incorporating her talent as a singer, guitarist, and dancer. Badi began to experiment even further with her voice, as well as, unique mouth percussion and rhythmic body percussion. She intuitively combines these elements with an impressive guitar approach thus creating excitingly fresh sounds that complement her vision as musician and performer. Badi's music connects with a multitude of cultures. Her first internationally released album, entitled “Solo”, introduced Badi as a potent force in the guitar world in 1994. Her second album “Rhythms” was lauded as one of the most important guitar recording of 1995. The album won Guitar Player magazine’s Readers’ Poll for “Best Classical album of the Year” (The Guitar Player editors jokingly commented: “not a classical album but played on classical guitar…close enough!”). She was also voted “Best Acoustic Fingerstyle Player” by Guitar Player magazine’s editors. Badi continues to evoke an air of discovery, of a new voice for the guitar, of admiration for Assad’s innovation and unusual application with each of her releases. The Los Angeles Times says, “Badi Assad redefines solo (guitar) performance! Revelatory, a brilliant display of innovation, imagination, and skill…almost hypnotically compelling!”