Orchestra
João Malha completed his Bachelor’s degree in Direção de Orquestra de Sopros at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, under the guidance of professor and conductor Alberto Roque, as well as a Master’s degree in Music and a Master’s degree in Music Education, both with a specialization in Orchestral Conducting and with professor and conductor Jean-Marc Burfin, at the same institution.
He is a teacher and conductor of the Orquestra Clássica and the Orquestra de Sopros at the Escola Profissional Metropolitana, principal conductor of the Orquestra Médica de Lisboa, and also conductor and Artistic Director of the Banda da Sociedade Filarmónica 1.º de Dezembro do Montijo. He was also conductor of the Orquestra Zana Batuta between 2019 and 2022, and guest conductor of the Associação Setúbal Voz led by composer and conductor Jorge Salgueiro, where he conducted a production of the opera Carmen, as well as the premiere of the opera 1911, A Conspiração da Igualdade by pianist, composer, and conductor António Victorino d’Almeida.
In 2019, he was selected as a participant conductor at the Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum in Salzburg, under the direction of conductor Bruno Weil. In 2022, he was also selected to participate in the Concurso Prémio Jovens Músicos in the category of Orchestral Conducting. In 2024, he was a semifinalist in the 3rd edition of the Frederick Fennell Conducting Competition.
As a composer, he has won several awards, including 2nd Prize at the VI Concurso Nacional de Composição Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa in 2018, 1st Prize at the 7th edition of the Concurso de Composição para Orquestra de Sopros (Fundação INATEL and Banda Sinfónica do Exército) in 2019, 1st Prize at the V Concurso de Composição da WASBE (Category II) at this year’s conference in South Korea, and 2nd Prize at the 3rd edition of the Saxony Dresden composition competition in Germany.