About João Costa Ferreira - piano
The Director of the Casa de Portugal at the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris, João Costa Ferreira , is a Portuguese pianist and researcher. He holds the Diplôme Supérieur d'Exécution from the École Normale de Musique de Paris and a PhD in Music and Musicology from the Sorbonne.
At the age of eleven, he began studying piano at the Orfeão Association Conservatory in Leiria under teacher Luís Batalha. At nineteen, he went to Paris, where he studied with Marian Rybicki and Guiglia Katsarava. There, he was a pupil and assistant to pianist Jean Martin. Also in Paris, he pursued scientific studies. As a scholarship student from the Foundation for Science and Technology, he obtained his doctorate under the philosopher and musicologist Danielle Cohen-Levinas.
Although his repertoire encompasses all styles from the Baroque onwards, João Costa Ferreira has specialized in the music of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. In his solo and chamber music projects, he is interested both in the performance of the great classical repertoire and in the discovery of composers who have fallen into obscurity or in commissions from contemporary composers. He has performed in Portugal, France, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands, notably at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon), the Cultural Centre of Belém (Portugal), the National San Carlos Theatre (Lisbon), the Casa da Música (Porto), the Teatro Rivoli (Porto), the Palais d'Iéna (Paris), the Salle Cortot (Paris), and the Gothic Hall of Brussels City Hall. Many of his concerts and records are broadcast by RTP-Antena 2, France Musique, and various European radio stations.
João Costa Ferreira plays an active role in the rehabilitation and appreciation of Portuguese musical heritage through the publication and recording of works by José Vianna da Motta. Since 2015, in collaboration with publisher AvA Musical Editions, he has published more than thirty unpublished works and recorded a large portion of them with the publishers Grand Piano Records (under the Naxos label), MPMP Movimento Patrimonial Vivo, and Coriolan / Inventive Art Music.
In addition to the various prizes he received at piano competitions, where he was honored at the 15th International Maria Campina Piano Competition and the 8th Sorbonne Competition for Young Soloists, João Costa Ferreira has received distinctions from various cultural institutions. In 2015, he was recognized as the “Best Artistic Revelation” by the Cap Magellan Association; in 2019, he was awarded the “Prémio Cultura – Música” by INATEL Leiria; in 2024, he received the Municipal Medal of Merit from the Municipality of Leiria.
João Costa Ferreira has been a member of various juries at international piano competitions, such as the International Piano Competition of Troisdorf (Germany), the International Competition for Young Musicians Meliton Balanchivadze (Georgia), the International Piano Competition of Lyon (France), and the International Santa Cecília Piano Competition (Portugal).
