João Costa Ferreira

Director of the Maison du Portugal André de Gouveia at the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris, João Costa Ferreira is a Portuguese pianist and researcher who holds the prestigious Diplôme supérieur d’exécution from the École normale de musique de Paris, and a doctorate in music and musicology from Sorbonne Université. He began his piano studies at the age of eleven at the Orfeão de Leiria – Conservatório de Artes with Luís Batalha. At 19, he left for Paris where he studied with Marian Rybicki and Guigla Katsarava, and became a pupil and assistant of the pianist Jean Martin. He went on to do his doctorate under the direction of philosopher and musicologist Danielle Cohen-Levinas, supported by a scholarship from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

João Costa Ferreira specialises in music from the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. In his solo and chamber music projects, he is as interested in interpreting great classical repertoire as he is in the discovery of forgotten composers, and commissioning new works from contemporary composers.

João Costa Ferreira has performed in concert halls across Portugal, France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. Many of his concerts and recordings have been broadcast by Antena 2 and France Musique, as well as several other European radio stations. In addition to the various prizes he has been awarded in international piano competitions, including Second Prize (ex æquo, First Prize not awarded) in the XV Maria Campina International Piano Competition, he has been recognised by various cultural institutions: in 2015, he was named Best Artistic Revelation by the Cap Magellan association; in 2019, he received the Culture – Music Award from Leiria – Fundação INATEL; and in 2024, he received the Municipal Merit Medal (Culture Class) from the Câmara Municipal de Leiria.

www.joaocostaferreira.com