Oscar Perez

Biography

Coordinator of the Jazz Studies Program
Director of the MSU Jazz Ensemble
Jazz Piano Faculty
Jazz Arranging and Performance Practicum

Oscar Perez, a New York City native, has performed, traveled and recorded in the musical groups of Phoebe Snow, Lakecia Benjamin, Wycliffe Gordon, Christian McBride, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Charenee Wade, the Mingus Big Band, Dave Stryker, Steve Turre, Eddie Allen, Ted Chubb, Abel Mireles LatiNext Project, Charlie Porter, Roseanna Vitro, Bruce Williams and Don Braden. During his formative years, he shared the bandstand with jazz legends Bunky Green, George Russell, Dianne Reeves, and Curtis Fuller. He has performed on many of the world’s famous stages, including the Kennedy Center, Dizzy’s Club, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Blue Note, the Jazz Standard, Detroit, Monterey and Newport Jazz Festivals, and the festival circuit throughout Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia.

He is the recipient of the 2006 ASCAP/IAJE Composition Commission in honor of Billy Strayhorn. Oscar’s group featuring Antonio Hart premiered the work at the 2007 International Association of Jazz Education Convention. He has also been commissioned to arrange music for Chick Corea, Regina Carter, Bela Fleck, Arturo Sandoval, R&B vocalist Jon B, and the MSM Jazz Orchestra featuring Sean Jones. He has been a member of the BMI Composer’s Workshop, writing for Studio Orchestra, Big Band, and performing concerts of original compositions for large ensemble. His critically acclaimed CD Afropean Affair, is the result of a New Works Grant by Chamber Music America for his septet Oscar Perez Nuevo Comienzo. He placed 2nd in the 2014 Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition. His latest endeavor, Prepare a Place for Me, is available through all media outlets.

Perez earned a Doctorate in Jazz Arts Advancement from the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Stefon Harris, Ingrid Jensen, and Jim McNeely. Previous studies at the New England Conservatory, University of North Florida, and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, gave him the opportunity to serve under the guidance of Danilo Perez, Michael Mossman, and Sir Roland Hanna, respectively. Perez has served on adjudication panels for ASCAP and Chamber Music America. He has been an educator through Carnegie Hall, the Kupferberg Center at Queens College, Jazz House Kids in Montclair, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the New Jersey Association for Jazz Education. In 2023, he directed the NJ All-State Jazz Ensemble with a culminating concert at NJPAC. He has held faculty positions at Drew University and the Manhattan School of Music.

Research

Jazz Studies 
Composition 
Afro-Cuban Music