葡萄牙女钢琴家，4岁首次登台，6岁举行独奏会，被称为神童，9岁参加里斯本国际钢琴比赛获第一名，16岁在里斯本音乐学院毕业后在柏林参加国际青年钢琴比赛获第二名，同年在李斯特钢琴比赛获第一名。随后到慕尼黑留学，师从恩格尔继续深造，1970年纪念贝多芬诞生200周年，在布鲁塞尔举办的贝多芬钢琴比赛获第一名，从而受到瞩目。皮雷斯的演奏，音色极美，又善于在节奏与分句处理上表现出细微的变化，其演奏的莫扎特、肖邦，都极具魅力。她和杜梅、王建一起，已形成室内乐的最佳搭档，其演绎的室内乐作品有一种清新的美感。 　　“I can’t think of a pianist with a more ideal command of Chopin’s style. Pires trips through the roulades with filigree dexterity, but her tone is so thoughtful, serious and weighty that they arrive with immense emotional profundity.” 　　-- The Times, London, June 2007 　　Maria João Pires was born in Lisbon in 1944. She made her first public performance at the age of seven with Mozart’s Piano Concertos in Oporto, Portugal. At the age of nine she received Portugal’s highest award for young musicians just one year later. From 1953 until 1960 she stu¬died at the Lisbon Conservatory with Professor Campos Coelho and took courses in composition, theory, and history of music with Francine Benoit. She continued her studies in Germany, first at the Munich Music Academy with Rosl Schmid, then in Hanover with Karl Engel. Maria João Pires has appeared all over the globe with all the major orchestras including the Berliner Philhar¬moniker, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, and the Wiener Philharmoniker. She is also a keen performer of chamber music. In recent years she has been heard at all the major international festivals including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festi¬val, the Schubertiade, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Montpellier, Lucerne, Edinburgh and BBC Proms.  　　1970 　　Achieves international recognition upon winning first prize at the Brussels Beethoven International Competition commemorating the composer’s 200th birthday 　　1986 　　Highly acclaimed London debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall 　　1987 　　Appears in Hamburg, Paris and Amsterdam during the inaugural tour of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra with Claudio Abbado 　　1989 　　Signs exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Her first recordings are of Schubert’s Piano Sonata, 6 Moments musicaux, and Scherzos nos. 1 & 2, and Mozart’s Piano Sonatas K. 310, K. 333 and K. 545 (CD Compact, Barcelona and Grand Prix du Disque, 1990). Makes very successful New York debut. Beginning of an extensive collaboration with violinist Augustin Dumay with whom she has since appeared all over the world. Receives the Pessoa Prize for her services to the arts 　　1990 　　Debut at the Salzburg Easter Festival with Abbado and the Wiener Philharmoniker 　　1991 　　Release of Mozart’s Complete Piano Sonatas; first Deutsche Grammophon release of a recording by Pires and Dumay playing Mozart Violin Sonatas K. 301, 304, 378 and 379 　　1992 　　Visits Japan on an extended recital tour with Augustin Dumay; release of Brahms’s Violin Sonatas, with Augustin Dumay 　　1993 　　Release of Mozart’s Piano Concertos nos. 14 & 26 “Coronation” with the Wiener Phil¬harmoniker and Abbado, and of Grieg’s Violin Sonatas nos. 1 – 3, with Augustin Dumay 　　1994 　　Extended recital tour of Japan with Augustin Dumay. Releases: Schumann’s Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Waldszenen, Romanzen, Arabeske; Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 2 and 24 Préludes op. 28 recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under André Prévin (Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin, Warsaw, 1995) 　　1995 　　Release of Bach’s Partita no. 1, French Suite no. 2 and English Suite no. 3 (Grand Prix du Disque, 1996); Mozart’s Piano Concertos nos. 17 & 21 with The Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Abbado; compositions by Schumann with oboist Douglas Boyd, and by Debussy, Franck and Ravel with Dumay 　　1996 　　Concerts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Salzburg and Lucerne. Release of Chopin’s Complete Nocturnes (Record Academy Prize, Tokyo, 1996; CD Compact, Barcelona, Grand Prix du Disque, 1997); first trio recording with Augustin Dumay and cellist Jian Wang of Brahms’s Piano Trios (Grand Prix du Disque, 1997) 　　1997 　　Release of Le Voyage magnifique – works by Schubert complemented by texts selected by Maria João Pires; Album of Mozart Piano Trios with Dumay and Jian Wang 　　1998 　　Tour of the Far East with Dumay and Jian Wang. Release of Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 1 with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe led by Emmanuel Krivine 　　1999 　　Establishment in Portugal of Belgais, an inter-cultural centre 　　2000 　　Release of Schumann’s Piano Concerto and Piano Quintet with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Abbado 　　2001 　　Release of Moonlight, an album with solo works by Beethoven recorded in Belgais 　　2002 　　Tour of Japan. Completion and release of Beethoven’s Complete Violin Sonatas with Dumay (German Record Critics’ Prize, 2003). Receives IMC-Unesco-Music Prize 2002 　　2003 　　Concerts throughout Europe with renowned orchestras; tour of Britain with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Charles Mackerras; solo, duo and trio recitals throughout Europe with Ricardo Castro, Dumay, and Jian Wang 　　2004 　　Appearances with the Orchestre National de France, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra (Menuhin Festival, Gstaad), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and Philharmonia Orchestra. Duo recitals with Castro throughout Europe, with Jian Wang in Paris, and Dumay in Luxemburg 　　2005 　　Tour of Spain with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Krivine; concerts with the Real Philharmonia de Galicia, and the Budapest Festival Orchestra; tour of Japan. Recitals throughout Europe and at festivals in Luxemburg and Italy. Release of Résonance de l’Originaire, a compilation of two Schubert solo sonatas and three pieces for four hands in which she is joined by Ricardo Castro 　　2006 　　Concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra and Haitink, the Gewandhaus¬orchester under Pinnock at the Mozart Festival, the Orquesta Nacional de España in Madrid, the Philharmonia Orchestra in Zurich, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Germany. Receives the Don Juan de Borbón da Música Prize in Segovia for “her qualities both as an artist and as a human being”. Disappointed by the lack of support for her Belgais project from the Portuguese authorities, she moves to San Salvador, Brazil 　　2007 　　Appearances at the Tivoli Festival in Copenhagen; performances with the Zurich Ton¬halle Orchestra and Dutoit, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Solo recitals in Spain and Vienna; duo recital in San Salvador with Dumay. Pires is awarded the Prémio Eduardo Lourenço by the Centro de Estudos Ibéricos for her contribution to the diffusion of musical culture 　　2008 　　Concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra under Gardiner, the English Concert, Concertgebouw Orchestra and Berliner Philharmoniker, all with Pinnock, and the London Chamber Orchestra. Concerts and recitals in South America; solo recitals throughout Europe. Audio release in Portugal of works by Chopin, including the Etude op. 25 no. 7, the Piano Sonata no. 3, and the Polonaise no. 7, op. 61, and the Cello Sonata op. 65 with Pavel Gomziakov 　　2009 　　Concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra and Gardiner, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Haitink (Lucerne Festival), the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra under Mackerras, the London Philharmonic under Pinnock, and the Royal Concertgebouworkest under Fischer. European tour with the Basle Chamber Orchestra, and an extensive concert and recital tour of Japan. Recitals in Lisbon, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands in which she is joined by cellist Pavel Gomziakov. International release of the Chopin recording