César Cardoso

He was born in Leiria and dedicated himself to music from a young age, at just 7 years old. He studied at the Hot Clube de Portugal and at the Lisbon Higher School of Music, where he graduated in Jazz Saxophone.
He is a member of the group of Dixieland, Desbundixie, Traditional Jazz He is the mentor and artistic director of the Leiria Jazz Orchestra.
He has collaborated with various national and international musicians such as Alexandre Frazão, Bernardo Moreira, João Paulo Esteves da Silva, Julian Arguëlles, Maria João, Mário Laginha, Bernardo Sassetti, Zé Eduardo, Perico Sambeat, Rosario Giuliani, Stacey Kent, Benny Golson, John Ellis, Miguel Zenón, Joe Lovano, Jason Palmer, John Hollenbeck, Guillermo Klein, Queen Esther Marrow, Kurt Elling, and Maria Schneider.
He already has 4 albums under his own name. "Half Step" (2010), "Bottom Shelf" (2015), "Interchange" (2018) and "Dice of Tenors" (2020).
In 2020 he won 1st prize in the International Composition Competition for Big Band and Clarinet, promoted by the Municipality of Loures.
In 2023 he became a Henri Selmer Paris Artist, the first Portuguese Jazz saxophonist to achieve this, and in July 2023 he completed his PhD in Music and Musicology, specializing in Performance, at the University of Évora, obtaining his doctorate with distinction.
Currently, he is a professor of saxophone, theory and analysis, combo, and ear training in the Bachelor's and Master's programs in Jazz at the University of Évora, and pedagogical director of the Leiria Jazz School.