Born in Porto in 2002, Joana Barbosa began playing the bassoon at the age of twelve with Lurdes Carneiro in ARTAVE, a professional music school in Porto. In 2020, Joana was accepted to the Haute École de Musique de Genève in the class of Afonso Venturieri. During the first year of her bachelor studies, she was awarded second prize (ex aequo) at the Concours Jeunes Solistes de l’Orchestre de Trois-Chêne in Geneva.
Joana completed her bachelor’s degree in June 2023 with the highest grade and distinction. She then pursued a master’s degree in Orchestral Performance at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, graduating in 2025.
Joana Barbosa joined the Orchestre Suisse des Jeunes (SJSO) in 2022, and soon after began working as a substitute musician with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. In the 2023-24 season, she participated in the academy of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, which gave her the opportunity to perform regularly with the orchestra.