João de Sousa Carvalho (22 February 1745 – c.1799) was the foremost Portuguese composer of his generation.

He was born in Estremoz. He studied music from 1753 at the Colégio dos Santos Reis in Vila Viçosa, then from 1761 at the Conservatorio di S Onofrio in Naples. In 1766 his setting of Metastasio’s La Nitteti was performed in Rome. In 1767, he joined the Irmandade de S Cecília at Lisbon and was appointed professor of counterpoint in the Seminário da Patriarcal, where he later served as mestre (1769 – 1773) and mestre de capela (1773 – 1798). In 1778 he became music teacher to the royal family. He died in Alentejo.

His numerous church works are written in the style of Niccolò Jommelli. His opera seria and serenatas were performed at the royal palaces of Ajuda and Queluz.