João Catalão

João Catalão is interested in how theatrical approaches and acting techniques can be applied to music. This work earned him a doctorate in performance from the University of Montreal and awards at the PAS-Brazil Composition Competition, a finalist spot at the IPCL in Luxembourg, and the “Outstanding Contribution to Theater” award with Angélique.

As guest professor and head of the percussion sector at the University of Montreal, he is active in the contemporary, jazz, and pop music scenes in Quebec and Canada. João Catalão is a member of Sixtrum, a contemporary percussion ensemble, a timpanist with the ensemble “Obiora,” a member of the jazz group Thuya, and has also worked as a marimbist for singer Pierre Lapointe and other pop/rock bands in Montreal. With these groups, he has performed at various American and European festivals: PASIC (US), MUSICA (FR), La Rochelle (FR), Salzburg Festival (AT), International Marimba Festival of Tabasco (MX), among others.

As a composer, Catalão has written music for productions such as Fantaisie des Amériques, a jazz musical tale with his group Thuya, La Grande Tortue (Sixtrum), Utopia.Arvore for puppet and marimba (J. Notari), and L’Ombre et l’Hibou (La Nef). His piece La prière de François d’Assis is performed by multiple percussionists in Brazil and the United States.

He also teaches percussion to a variety of age groups, from children and teenagers to academic and professional levels, at institutions such as the University of Montreal, McGill University in Brazilian jazz combos, and contemporary and Latin percussion at CEGEP Marie-Victorin and Pierre-Laporte High School.