Biography

João Paulo Maria was born in Santiago de Bougado-Trofa in 1985. He started his musical studies at eight with Prof. Antónia Maria Serra at the Academia de Música de Santiago de Bougado. He participated in several courses of musical improvement with Profs: Jaime Mota, Fátima Travanca, Tsiala Kvernadze, Miguel Borges Coelho, Helena Sá e Costa, Maria do Céu Camposinhos, Luís de Moura Castro, Jura Margulis, Vitaly Margulis, Jörg Demus, Pedro Burmester, Adriano Jordão e Claudio Martínez Mehner.

He finished the 8th grade with a classification of 20 points, in the class of Prof. Maria do Céu Camposinhos, at Centro de Cultura Musical, Caldas da Saúde. In 2010 he finished his piano degree at ESMAE (Escola Superior de Música e das Artes do Espetáculo) in Porto in the class of Prof. Sofia Lourenço. Later on, he also studied with Prof. Luís Pipa and Prof. Sofia Lourenço in the context of the master’s in teaching.  Concluded with high classification the master’s in music teaching in ESMAE, is currently attending the PhD in Music at the University of Aveiro. As part of her PhD, he has been studying with Prof. Fausto Neves.

He has been conciliating teaching with public presentations. Teaches the piano discipline since 2009, having already collaborated with several schools and conservatories, through the different education systems, both official and non-official. 

He has made several public presentations with solo recitals in numerous places in the country such as the University of Aveiro, Paço dos Duques in Guimarães, Póvoa de Varzim, Vila do Conde, Trofa, Santo Tirso, Academia de Música de Fafe, Casa da Música de Óbidos, Museu da Cidade - Extensão do Romantismo. 

In 2005, together with the tenor Alberto Costa, he premiered the work "Cecília Lieder" by the young composer Nuno Jacinto in two concerts, the first in ESMAE in the Helena Sá e Costa Theatre, and the second in the São Luiz Theatre in Lisbon, a concert broadcasted by Antena 2. He performed solo, in January 2011, in a recital dedicated to LISZT and CHOPIN, in the noble hall of the Museu Nogueira da Silva, thus opening the cycle of concerts of this same museum. He opened the process of concerts of Ateneu Comercial do Porto with a solo recital in April 2011. Already in May 2011, he performed a recital at the Pavilhão Centro de Portugal in Coimbra. In February 2012, for the second consecutive year, he performed a new recital at the Museu Nogueira da Silva in front of a packed house.

In April 2012, he made his debut as a soloist with the Artave Orchestra, conducted by Ernst Schelle, performing the work "Totentanz" by Franz Liszt. In 2015 he participated in a solo recital in the EUROCLASSICAL program, held and recorded at the Teatro Helena Sá e Costa. He has recently made collaborations with the Póvoa de Varzim Musical Band. He performed, in November 2022, a solo recital inserted in the 2nd season of the Ciclos Lua Nova of the Dionísio Pinheiro and Alice Cardoso Pinheiro Foundation. 

Ciência Vitae | ORCID

Fausto Neves