Óscar Marcelino da Graça, born in Aveiro (Portugal) in 1980, started studying music at the age of six. He graduated in Music Composition at the Escola Superior de Música in Lisbon (2002) after concluding the studies in classical piano performance at the Conservatório de Música de Aveiro de Calouste Gulbenkian (1998). He studied jazz at the Escola de Jazz in Oporto, Hot Clube de Portugal in Lisbon and Berklee College of Music in Boston (having been given a scholarship). He's presently enrolled in a PhD in the University of Lisbon. He studied, among others, with Paulo Gomes, Bernardo Moreira, Rodrigo Gonçalves, António Pinho Vargas, Luís Tinoco, Frank Carlberg, Tony Germain, Neil Olmstead, JoAnne Brackeen, Bruno Raberg, Dave Samuels, Ken Pullig and Ed Tomassi. He's a teacher since 2000, having worked in a lot of different institutions. He currently teaches at the Escola Superior de Música in Lisboa, at the University of Évora and at the Hot Clube de Portugal in Lisbon. He's a member of several musical groups like Nuno Costa Quintet, Jeffery Davis Quintet, Saga Cega, NoA, Orquestra de Jazz do Hot Clube de Portugal, ThE SPiLL, Quinteto Ricardo Pinto, César Cardoso Ensemble, Mad Nomad, The Last Minute Experience and Joana Machado, and he is the leader of his own trio, co-leader of liftoff, erro de sintaxe and a silent-movies project. As a sideman, he plays or has played with, among others, André Fernandes, Nelson Cascais, João Firmino, Afonso Pais, Paula Oliveira, Marta Hugon, Mariana Norton, Sara Serpa, Sofia Ribeiro, David Binney, José Pedro Coelho, João Guimarães, Ohad Talmor, Gonçalo Prazeres, Paulo Gaspar, Bernardo Moreira, Miguel Amado, Dan Weiss, João Lencastre, Lithium, Reunion Big Band, Coro Gulbenkian and QuadQuartet.