Composer, recorder and shakuhachi player, conductor and musicologist. His composition teachers were Christopher Bochmann and Constança Capdeville. Viana’s works are included in the repertoire of institutions such as Gulbenkian Ballet, National Ballet of Portugal, Teatro da Trindade, Mafra International Festival, and others. Among the interpreters of his chamber music are Ensemble João Roiz, Lev Vinocour, Luís Cunha, Tatiana Samouil, Christian Scholl, Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro, Teimuraz Janikashvili, Malte Refardt, Stephane Levesque, Ensembre Cinque Elementi, Liviu Scripcaru, Cecilia Bercovich, Carlos Marín Rayo, João Roiz Ensemble, Natalia Tchitch, Quarteto Sao Roque, Laura Granero, Ajay Ranganathan, Adrian Florescu, Gerardo Gramajo, Pavel Gomziakov, Daniel Schvetz, Bertrand Raoulx, Carlo Colombo, Quarteto Lopes-Graça, Síntese-Grupo de Música Contemporânea, among many others.

As a conductor, Viana has recorded for EMI classics, BMG, Philips, RCA, Strauss, Xerais and Bajja records, and has been invited by orchestras such as Radio-Philarmonie Hannover (NDR), RIAS Big Band Berlin, Metropolitana de Lisboa, Filarmonia das Beiras, Clássica da Madeira, Francisco de Lacerda (Azores), etc.

As a performer, Viana’s activity ranges from medieval to contemporary music, from the Japanese Shakuhachi flute to the shepherds bagpipes, from baroque to sefardic music… In these and other musical fields, he has collaborated with Nuno Torka Miranda, Mika Suihkonen, Cristiano Holtz, Maria João Pires, Annemieke Cantor, Hugo Naessens, among many others. Also with the ensembles Sinfoniab, Birundum, Cobras e Son and Vozes Alfonsinas. All these musical references contribute to a rich and varied musical universe, and have an obvious influence on his compositions.

Cesar Viana did an extensive research on the mostly unknown Portuguese orchestral repertoire from baroque to romanticism, having edited, restored, published the scores, presented in concert and recorded for main international labels works by João de Sousa Carvalho, João Domingos Bomtempo, Francisco de Sá Noronha and Francisco dos Santos Pinto.
Viana was artistic director of the ensembles Sinfoniab and Cobras e Son, of Belgais – the arts center founded by Maria João Pires – and of Sesimbra’s Early Music Festival. He also had directive or coordination responsibilities at Fundacion Caja Duero (Salamanca) and Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa. Until 2013 he was a member of the board of OPART (National Opera and Ballet of Portugal) and artistic director of ‘Festival ao Largo’, one of the main classical music festivals in Portugal

Currently he teaches composition at Centro Superior de Enseñanza Musical Katarina Gurska (Madrid), is music director of Concerto Moderno (a Lisbon based string orchestra) and is musical director of Bajja Jazz Ensemble (Madrid).