João Fernandes opera house débuts include Giove La Calisto at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Claudio Agrippina at New York City Opera, Bellone Les Indes Galantes at Opera Garnier, Paris under William Christie; Tiferne Eliogabalo at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie under René Jacobs (with further performances at the Innsbruck Festival); Orcan Les Paladins at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris under William Christie (with further performances in Athens and Tokyo); Huascar Les Indes Galantes at Zurich Opernhaus under William Christie; Seneca L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Opéra de Lyon under William Christie; and Corésus and Le Ministre de Pan Callirhoé by Destouches at the Opéra de Montpellier under Hervé Niquet (also recorded in Metz). He studied at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he attended the Opera Course and was awarded the European Premier Prix with distinction.

João Fernandes has performed as a soloist with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre, Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel, Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata, Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, Ottavio Dantone and Accademia Bizantina, René Jacobs and Concerto Vocale, Michel Corboz and the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis, John Neschling, Thomas Sanderling, and David Stern, at venues including Cité de la Musique, Palais Garnier, Le Châtelet, Salle Gaveau and Champs-Élysées in Paris, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Prague National Theatre, the Barbican in London, and the Innsbruck Festival and Misteria Paschalia Festival in Krakow. He has sung widely throughout Europe, the United States of America, South America, China and Australia. He has also sung recitals in France, England, Scotland, Portugal, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

Other major engagements have included Don Alfonso Cosi fan tutte at the Opera de Lyon, Orcan Les Paladins (staged) at the Barbican, in Shanghai, Caen, and on tour in Europe and Achis David et Jonathas also on tour in Europe and South America with William Christie; Atrace L’empio punito with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques; and Créon Medée with Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel; and Togno Spinalba by Francisco Antonio de Almeida at the Cultural Centre of Belem. He also sang roles in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Bach’s Ich habe genug and Fabrizio Il tutore burlato by Martin Y Soler in Spain with Les Talens Lyriques (also recorded for Decca), concerts and a recording as Pluton Proserpine with Le Concert Spirituel in Cité de la Musique and Versailles, Mozart Mass in C minor in Lisbon and Oporto with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Bach’s Mass in B minor on tour with Les Musiciens du Louvre, and Handel Dixit Dominus with the London Philharmonic.

João Fernandes’ other operatic roles include Gremin, Zaretsky, The Captain Eugene Onegin, Satyre and Jupiter Platée, Le Muphti Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Der Sprecher Die Zauberflöte, Il Commendatore Don Giovanni, Il re di Scozia Ariodante, Achilla Giulio Cesare, Pluton, Apollon & Tytie La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers, Tarik Going into Shadows, Gremin Eugene Onegin, Kaspar Der Freischütz, Cold Genius King Arthur, René Iolanta, Remigio La Navarraise, Maestro Spinelloccio Gianni Schicchi, The Mother The Seven Deadly Sins, Don Quijote El Retablo de Maese Pedro and Adonis Venus & Adonis.

João Fernandes recently sang King Arthur in a production by Corinne and Gilles Bénizio (alias Shirley & Dino), under Hervé Niquet with Le Concert Spirituel at the Festival of Radio France and Montpellier at Montpellier Opera House. This production was revived in the Spring of 2009, and recorded for broadcast on French Television and for release on DVD.

João Fernandes’ other recent engagements include concerts in Cuenca and at the Portico de Zamora Festival, the Montpellier production of King Arthur with Le Concert Spirituel and Hervé Niquet on tour in Japan, Monteverdi Vespers with L’Arpeggiata, Don Pietro Lo frate ’nnamorato (Pergolesi) and further performances as Togno La Spinalba, both with Marcos Magalhães and Os Musicos do Tejo in Lisbon, Don Lazaro La Clementina (Boccherini) in Madrid and Bilbao, Nerbulone Eliogabalo (Cavalli) at Grange Park Opera, Seneca L’incoronazione di Poppea for Opera Atelier, Toronto, Osman, Huascar and Don Alvar Les Indes Galantes with Les Arts Florissants in Prague, Brussels, London and at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, as well as Togno La Spinalba, Schubert’s Winterreise at the Cultural Centre of Belem, Lisbon and Nerbulone Eliogabalo (Cavalli) at Grange Park Opera

Among João Fernandes future engagements are Les Indes Gallantes with Frans Bruggen and the Orchestra of the 18th Century for NPS Radio in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Hérault - Bass Choryphée - Apollon in Christof Loy’s forthcoming new production of Hippolyte et Aricie at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, concerts in Ludwigsburg Festival with L’Arpeggiata, further performances as Don Lazaro La Clementina in Santander and as Don Pietro Lo frate ’nnamorato in Lisbon, further performances of King Arthur in Versailles, the World Premiere of Caravaggio by Suzanne Giraud and librettist Dominique Fernandez at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, and Polyphemus Acis and Galatea and Pollux Castor et Pollux with Opera Atelier, Toronto and Polifemo Aci, Galatea e Polifemo on tour and in the Halle Festival with the English Concert.

João Fernandes’solo recordings include two DVDs, of Les Indes Galantes at the Palais Garnier, Moulinié Motets at Versailles with William Christie & Les Arts Florissants and CDs of Opera and Oratorio under the baton of Christie, Niquet, Pluhar and Rousset including the Decca recording of Il Tutore Burlato.

João Fernandes speaks fluent English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian. He has a working knowledge of German and performs in Russian.