Maria João Pires, born in Portugal, began playing the piano at the age of three and gave her first public performance at the age of five. She has performed in all the major cities throughout the world both in recital and with the world's leading orchestras.

In addition to pursuing her solo career, Maria João Pires is an avid performer of chamber music. Since 1986 she has worked primarily with the French violinist Augustin Dumay and more recently they joined forces with the cellist Jian Wang and together they have toured widely.

Pires records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon and has built up an extensive catalogue including her highly praised recording of the complete Chopin Nocturnes. This set and a Bach solo disc have both received Grande Prix International du Disque awards as has the Brahms Piano Trios Nos. 1 and 2 CD,performed with Dumay and Wang. Released in autumn 2002, the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas with Dumay has received worldwide acclaim.

In the 1999/2000 season Pires took a sabbatical from the concert platform in order to devote her time to the development of Belgais (www.belgais.net) a centre for the study of the arts in Portugal. The main objective of the centre is to provide an environment conducive to the individual search for artistic creation, and to stimulate collaboration amongst artists, specialists and technicians by creating new ways in which to approach the arts and the creative process for teaching them. 

2003 included concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as well as recital tours in The Netherlands, Spain and France. In addition the 2003/2004 season saw the beginning of an exciting new project in which Maria João Pires and the Brazilian pianist Ricardo Castro collaborated.

Maria João Pires received the UNESCO International Music Council Prize in November 2002.