Joana Rolo is a Portuguese pianist who studied in Lisbon, Krakow, and Rotterdam with Aquiles Delle Vigne, Ewa Bukojemska, and Jean-Bernard Pommier. A versatile and multifaceted musician, she performs regularly across Europe in solo recitals, chamber music concerts, and with orchestras. Her artistic curiosity has led her to develop numerous interdisciplinary projects in the fields of improvisation, dance, musical theatre, opera, and silent film.
Her fascination with the cine-concert format has grown through participation in renowned events dedicated to live music for film, including the Rotterdam Silent Film Festival, FilmFest Setúbal, and the regular programming of the Portuguese Cinematheque.
Alongside her performance career, Joana is deeply committed to arts education. She has led several teacher training projects in music and dance in Nepal, Mozambique, and Myanmar. Her close and ongoing collaboration with soprano Elvire de Paiva has resulted in several initiatives, most notably the Vocalini project, which introduces operatic repertoire to children around the world in an innovative and engaging way.
Joana Rolo is also a radio author and presenter. Together with Paula Castelar, she created and hosted As Notáveis, a programme dedicated to celebrating the music of women composers, broadcast weekly on Antena 2.
More recently, she launched a solo weekly podcast on Rádio Antecâmara, exploring the musical toponyms of the city of Lisbon. From this project emerged Os Compositores Portugueses no Mundo (“Portuguese Composers in the World”), a lecture-recital series dedicated to promoting Portuguese composers internationally. With the support of the Instituto Camões, she has presented this project in several cities around the world, including Stockholm, Rome, Macau, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest.
Joana Rolo is also the artistic director of Músicas de Uma Noite de Verão, a festival that brings classical music to the streets of Lisbon.
Her fascination with the cine-concert format has grown through participation in renowned events dedicated to live music for film, including the Rotterdam Silent Film Festival, FilmFest Setúbal, and the regular programming of the Portuguese Cinematheque.
Alongside her performance career, Joana is deeply committed to arts education. She has led several teacher training projects in music and dance in Nepal, Mozambique, and Myanmar. Her close and ongoing collaboration with soprano Elvire de Paiva has resulted in several initiatives, most notably the Vocalini project, which introduces operatic repertoire to children around the world in an innovative and engaging way.
Joana Rolo is also a radio author and presenter. Together with Paula Castelar, she created and hosted As Notáveis, a programme dedicated to celebrating the music of women composers, broadcast weekly on Antena 2.
More recently, she launched a solo weekly podcast on Rádio Antecâmara, exploring the musical toponyms of the city of Lisbon. From this project emerged Os Compositores Portugueses no Mundo (“Portuguese Composers in the World”), a lecture-recital series dedicated to promoting Portuguese composers internationally. With the support of the Instituto Camões, she has presented this project in several cities around the world, including Stockholm, Rome, Macau, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest.
Joana Rolo is also the artistic director of Músicas de Uma Noite de Verão, a festival that brings classical music to the streets of Lisbon.
