“The Portuguese composer César Viana – born in England, in 1963, and now resident in Spain – is an all-round musician: conductor, pianist, early-music enthusiast, folklorist and flautist, with a special interest in the shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute. His resulting familiarity with Zen Buddhism has left its mark on his music, where the clean lines of Japanese art combine with a fondness for the contrapuntal textures that form the basis of much European art-music – imagine Bach and Hindemith in the formal elegance of a stone garden, warmed by a touch of western wit.”

— (Toccata Classics)

César Viana is a Portuguese composer currently living in Spain. Born in Southampton, UK (1963), he studied composition at Lisbon’s Escola Superior de Música, under Constança Capdeville and Christopher Bochmann, and holds degrees in Musicology (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) and Recorder Performance (Conservatório Nacional). He is completing his doctoral dissertation (Universidade do Minho), which examines tonal practices in twentieth-century Western art music. Viana’s music reflects his deep engagement with Western classical traditions (especially—but not exclusively—the master contrapuntists, from Palestrina and Bach to Hindemith and Bartók), while incorporating elements of Japanese shakuhachi music, the Arabic Maqam system, modal Jazz, and Iberian folk modal traditions. His works have been performed and recorded globally by leading artists and ensembles. Viana is the author of numerous works across all fields of concert music, including the operas Debussy e Mélisande (libretto by Claudio Hochman) and O Último Canto (libretto by César Viana), the Easter cantata Carmina Passionis, Concerto Grosso – As 4 Estações de Lisboa, the Concerto for Tenor Saxophone and Concert Band, Zhaba, and Danças do Cru for orchestra. His chamber and ensemble works include Laberinto del Oído (piano quintet), De Près (ensemble with voice), Aus der Tiefe (string quartet), and Sermaf (violin and viola) among others.

Carlos Marín Rayo recently recorded some of Viana’s piano music for Toccata Records (TOCC0771), which had previously released several of his chamber works. Viana maintains a close artistic association with Musicamera Produções as both a composer and performer. Other frequent collaborators include the João Roiz Ensemble, pianist Carlos Marín Rayo, and saxophonist Julia Segovia Verdejo.

As a conductor, flautist and composer, he has recorded for major labels (EMI, RCA, BMG, Philips, Resonare, Strauss, Toccata). He has revived, transcribed and edited numerous orchestral works by Portuguese composers from the Baroque to Romantic eras, and conducted many in-field recordings of Portuguese folk music. Early in his professional career, Viana held roles as a ballet accompanist and early music performer. He had artistic and administrative roles at Belgais—Centro para o Estudo das Artes (founded by Maria João Pires), Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and OPART (management of Lisbon Opera House, Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, and National Ballet). Currently, Viana serves as a musical analysis professor at Madrid’s Centro Superior Katarina Gurska while maintaining an active performance career on both Baroque recorder and shakuhachi – the traditional bamboo flute of Japanese Zen Buddhism. César Viana is a multi-instrumentalist who, in addition to the recorder and the shakuhachi, also plays piano, jazz guitar, Arabic oud and early music reed instruments. His extensive collection of musical instruments can be visited at Instrumenteca de Castelo Branco (Central Portugal).