Copyright © 2010 João Paulo Figueirôa

 

 

João Paulo Figueirôa

João Paulo Figueirôa has been warmly received by audiences in the US, South America and Europe. His performance career has taken him to South America, Europe and the U.S. He has performed in important venues in the US and Brazil such as John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and Sala do Coro do Teatro Castro Alves in Bahia, Brazil. He has been also featured on television and radio programs across the United States and Brazil. As a solist and a chamber music player, João Paulo has premiered pieces by composers such as Paulo Costa Lima, and Leonardo Boccia. He has been also invited as soloist by different orchestras, playing concertos by Ponce, Rodrigo and Vivaldi under the conduction of directors such as Piero Bastianelli, Paulo Novais and Welligton Gomes. João Paulo was laureate in more than a dozen guitar competitions. His awards include the first prize at the Fourth Annual Musicalis National Competition in 2000, prize winner in the 2nd National Competition of Young Soloists hosted by the Orquestra Sinfonica da Bahia in Brazil in 2003, The national first prize winner at the Music Teacher’s National Association Collegiate Artist Competition (MTNA) in 2004, and the first prize winner at the Columbus State Guitar Symposium in 2007.

 

In conjunction to his performing career, Dr. Figueirôa has been in demand as a master class teacher and lecturer. He has held faculty positions in Universities and Guitar festivals in Brazil and in the United States. Between 1998 and 2002, he served as faculty at Escola de Música da Universidade Federal da Bahia, in Brazil, where he taught a diverse array of music classes and guitar lessons. During this period he was also an active lecturer and assisted the music education department developing manuals to teach guitar in group. Between 2003 and 2008, he was a graduate teaching assistant at Florida State University, where in 2006 he was nominated for an outstanding teaching assistant award. In 2008 and 2009, he worked as an adjunct faculty professor at Thomas University, GA.

 

João Paulo earned a Doctorate and Master´s Degree in Music at the Florida State University under the instruction of the renowned pedagogue Bruce Holzman. Prior to his work in the USA, João Paulo studied with Dr. Mario Ulloa at Universidade Federal da Bahia where he earned a Bachelor Degree and a Curso de Extenção Artist Diploma.

 

João Paulo plays guitars made by the Brazilian guitar maker Samuel Carvalho.

 

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