Throughout his distinguished career, Sérgio Assad has cultivated a deep connection with Greece, both through performance and composition.
His Mikis Concerto Fantasia (1999), inspired by the music of celebrated Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, was premiered in Athens in 2000 by guitarist Costas Cotsiolis and the Athenian String Orchestra.

A decade later, Thanos Mitsalas gave the concerto its first recording, further cementing its place in the contemporary guitar repertoire.
This collaboration blossomed further, as the composer’s trust in the interpreter produced remarkable fruits.

Among them was Seikilos Epitaph’s Fantasy, inspired by the oldest surviving complete piece of ancient Greek music, which was dedicated to and premiered by Mitsalas.
His ongoing championing of Assad’s music through performances and recordings ultimately inspired the Naoussa Concerto for guitar and symphony orchestra.

The concerto premiered in the northern Greek town of Naoussa, performed by Mitsalas and the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra.
The performance commemorated the 200th anniversary of a tragic event in the town’s history — the 1822 massacre during the Greek War of Independence.

This premiere was a powerful testament to the connection between Assad and Mitsalas, whose collaboration continues to resonate throughout Greece’s vibrant musical landscape.

The Municipality of the Heroic Town of Naoussa fully embraced and supported the recording project, which features two programmatic concertos.
These pieces, through their descriptive movement and section titles, paint a compelling picture of contrasting cultural environments:
one an urban Brazilian setting, the other a rural Greek one.

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