Sérgio and Odair, live at the Imperial Museum (RJ), in 1973. Collection: IPB - Instituto de Piano Brasileiro.
Some time later, Mazo stopped being a businessman and the brothers' career entered a phase of instability. Without professional representation, in 1972 — when he was just twenty years old — Sérgio took over the production of Duo.
Faced with difficulties in finding and negotiating concerts, he found out about the Young Soloists Competition at Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and decided to enroll them. The bet proved to be decisive: when they won first place, interest around the Assad Duo has been rekindled.
One of the first results of this resumption was the invitation to perform in the foyer of the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro — strategic space, where art critics used to circulate. Soon after, they took to the stage at the prestigious Sala Cecília Meireles, attracting an audience full of influential names. Among them music manager Jacob Herzog, representative of artists such as pianist Antonio Guedes Barbosa. Convinced by his brothers' talent, Herzog offered to manage them.
In the midst of this period of professional reorganization, Sérgio began to reflect on his own musical training. He considered delving deeper into Regency and, thus, entered UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), seeking broaden artistic horizons. He knew that Odair had a rare instrumental talent and that to keep the duo in balance, he needed to strengthen other facets of his own training.
However, the college, located in the center of Rio, was far from Campo Grande and its routine was already intense: studies and rehearsals with Odair, classes with Monina and a growing schedule of concerts organized by Herzog. Reconcile All these demands soon proved unfeasible. Sérgio ended up stopping and resuming the course a few times, completing four of the required seven years, but the advancement of the Duo's career and the need to maintain focus on the repertoire made it Of course, it would not be possible to continue with college simultaneously.
Thus, he chose to dedicate himself entirely to the guitar and to his own musical investigations developed alongside the brother — a path that would once and for all consolidate the artistic identity of Duo Assad.
