Maria João Pires (born in Lisbon, Portugal, July 23, 1944) is a renowned Portuguese pianist who currently lives in Brazil. Her first recital was at age five, and at age seven she was already playing Mozart Piano Concertos publicly. Two years later, she received Portugal's top prize for young musicians. In the following years, she studied with Professor Campos Coelho at the Lisbon Conservatory, taking courses in composition, theory, and history of music.