João Paulo Santos

João Paulo Santos

Born in Lisbon in 1959, João Paulo Santos completed his piano studies in the National Conservatorium with Adriano Jordão. He has also studied with Helena Costa, Joana Silva, Constança Capdeville, Lola Aragón and Elizabeth Grümmer. Winner of a scholarship from Gulbenkian Foundation, he studied in Paris from 1979 to 1984 with Aldo Ciccolini. He was Assistant Conductor with the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos Chorus (Lisbon Opera House) in 1984, becoming its Principal Conductor from 1990 to 2004. Nowadays he is Director of Musical Studies and Stage Musical Director in the same theatre. João Paulo Santos is very active both as pianist and conductor. He directed first performances in Portugal of Operas by Stravinsky, Henze and Pinho Vargas, and won the «Acarte 2000» award for his direction of The English Cat.