Profile

Maria João Pires is an internationally renowned Portuguese pianist, widely acclaimed for the excellence of her interpretations and her unique musical sensitivity. She began her training at the National Conservatory in Lisbon under Francine Benoît and Campos Coelho, before continuing her studies in Germany with Rosl Schmid in Munich and Karl Engel in Hanover. She gained international prominence in 1970 when she won the Brussels Competition to mark the bicentenary of Beethoven.

A masterful interpreter of classical and romantic repertoire, she is particularly renowned for her performances of works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Chopin. She has collaborated with some of the world’s most celebrated conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez and John Eliot Gardiner, as well as prestigious orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Wiener Philharmoniker. She has toured the most important concert halls in Europe, North America, Japan, and Israel.

She has an extensive discography released by Deutsche Grammophon and Erato and has recorded landmark works such as Chopin’s Nocturnes and Mozart’s Piano Sonatas. She was awarded the Prémio Pessoa in 1989 and the Gramophone Classical Music Award in 2015. She founded the Belgais Centre for the Study of the Arts, which has an educational and social mission. She is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music (since 2023) and has been awarded the Grã-Cruz da Ordem Militar de Sant’Iago da Espada (1998) and the Grã-Cruz da Ordem do Infante D. Henrique (2019). She is also an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon.