Biography

João Carlos Victor is Professor of Guitar and Chamber Music at the LUCA School of Arts (Lemmensinstituut) in Belgium and maintains an active international concert career.

Winner of numerous international competitions, such as the Francisco Tárrega International Guitar Competition 2015 and the Vienna International Music Competition 2021, he has been invited both as a performer and teacher to renowned festivals, concert series and radio and television programs in Switzerland, Norway, Spain, Brazil, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Romania.

His debut CD Guitar Recital was released by the Naxos label in 2016 and was praised by critics. The repertoire ranges from the Renaissance with three chromatic fantasies by John Dowland to the present day with the first recording of Répéter by Paulo Rios Filho, composed in 2014. In May 2023, João's second CD I Call to You, featuring his own transcriptions of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Robert de Viseé, was released on the JSM Records label.

His interest in contemporary music gave him the opportunity to collaborate with composers of great reputation such as Sofia Gubaidulina, Paulo Costa Lima, Wellington Gomes, Leonardo Boccia and Paulo Rios Filho. The piece Répéter, which resulted from the collaboration with the composer Paulo Rios Filho, was awarded at the X Boston GuitarFest Composition Competition (USA) in 2015.

João has also devoted his attention to Early Music, studying with specialists in this field such as lutenists Peter Croton and Julian Behr, and harpsichordist Bettina Seeliger. In addition, he attended special courses and master classes with Paul O’Dette (lute), Eduardo Egüez (lute), Marieke Spaans (harpsichordist and the last student of Gustav Leonhardt) and the duo Maccari–Pugliese (guitar duo specialized in nineteenth-century repertoire).

João holds master's degrees in Musicology, Music Performance and Specialized Musical Performance – Soloist (Soloist Diploma) from world-renowned universities such as the University of Bern (Switzerland), the Musikhochschule Basel (Switzerland), the Musikhochschule Luzern (Switzerland) and the Musikhochschule Nürnberg (Germany).