In an interview with Renascença, a leading Portuguese radio and news outlet, Maria João Pires reflected on her withdrawal from public performance and revealed that she is selling her Belgais Arts Centre, the project she founded more than two decades ago in Castelo Branco, Portugal.
At 81, the Portuguese pianist told Renascença that she feels far removed from the life of a touring performer:
“I never had the spirit of the pianist who gives concerts, who has great success, large audiences, and travels constantly. I no longer am a pianist.”
Her remarks follow her June announcement that she would step away from the concert stage for an indefinite period after suffering a minor stroke. At the time, she said she intended to focus on rest, reflection, and personal growth — “to rediscover balance between body and spirit.”
The artist, who received on Saturday, November 1 the Helena Vaz da Silva European Award at Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Foundation, described this stage of her life as one of transformation and renewed purpose after her health crisis. She said the experience offered “an opportunity to evolve” and to “relativise what once seemed so important.”
Now spending most of her time in the countryside, she values a closer connection to nature and reflection:
“It’s very important for me to have contact with nature — to understand the value of what we’ve been given and what we cannot create.”
In the interview, she expressed concern about the growing loss of consciousness, competition, and environmental neglect, saying:
“We’re living in an era of a lot of rubbish. Competition is war — the weapons are different, but the result is always the death of something. Children today suffer from a gigantic hunger for consciousness.”
She still speaks of occasionally playing, though “not much,” and says she finds “a certain peace” when she does — suggesting she continues to play privately, but no longer sees herself as a concert artist.
Despite selling Belgais, she hopes its educational and artistic mission will continue:
“Things must go on. That doesn’t mean they’ll stay the same, but that there’s a positive continuation.”
Pires founded the Centro de Artes de Belgais in 1999 as a centre for music education, community engagement, and artistic reflection. Over the years, it became a symbol of her belief in music as a force for introspection and social connection.
The full interview, conducted by Maria João Costa, is available on Renascença (rr.pt).
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