Following his studies at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo, Porto, and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Leipzig, João Francisco Távora embarked on an ambitious career as a soloist, ensemble player and musical director. 

His first solo album, with recorder music by G. P. Telemann, is released in April 2025 on Coviello Classics. This debut recording precedes a second solo album containing transcriptions of works by J. S. Bach. Tours with a wide range of ensembles have taken him to Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Finland, Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira) and Spain. Since the 2023/24 season he has performed regularly with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. 

His long-standing passion for recorder consort is documented by a series of albums of Portuguese Renaissance music as a member of the Arte Minima ensemble, notably CDs of music by Francisco de Santa Maria and Vicente Lusitano. 

João is the founder and co-artistic director of Musurgia Ensemble, dedicated to the interpretation and dissemination of newly rediscovered music from the 16th to 18th centuries. Musurgia’s first recording projects include “Ad vesperas – music for the Vespers of Corpus Christi”, in collaboration with the vocal ensemble Quarto Tom, and the project “Missa Iste confessor domini”.