About · Oliver Marec

The saxophonist and composer Oliver Marec was born in 1992 in Freising (near Munich). He started his musical career at the age of six, originally taking up the drums before he switched so saxophone in 2005. Oliver Marec completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Nuremberg University of Music, learning from well-known musicians such as Klaus Graf, Hubert Winter and Steffen Schorn. Subsequently, he moved to Vienna to study with Andrew Middleton at Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna. He completed his master’s degree with Andrew Middleton in 2017.

Next to his studies, Oliver Marec was a member of the Bavarian Youth Jazz Orchestra (LJJB) under the direction of Harald Rüschenbaum from 2008 to 2017. He is featured on three of the ensemble’s recordings (2016: Raga Meets Jazz, a cooperation with Shantalla Subramanyam from Chennai (India) and her ensemble; 2016: LJJB presents Sacred Concerts by Duke Ellington, a cooperation with the Turksoy Choir with singers from Turkey, Azerbaidschan and Turkmenistan; 2017: A Christmas Cantata).

Furthermore, he released two albums (2017, 2019) with his quartet tiktaalik. In 2018 tiktaalik was awarded with the Förderpreis des Bayerischen Jazzverbandes. Oliver Marec was awarded with the Marianne Mendt Nachwuchswettbewerb in 2016. Overall, he is featured on approximately 20 recordings/albums as a musician and/or composer.

His musical success has allowed him to play in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, England and Slovenia. Some of the most prominent musicians Oliver Marec has had the joy to play with include: Vincent Herring, Mike LeDonne, Wycliffe Gordon, Joe Gallardo, Jay Ahsby, Kim Nazarian, Nils Lindberg, Marcio Bahia, Jovino Santos Neto, Dusko Goykovic, Rex Richardson, Helmut Kagerer, Claus Raible, Guido May, Mario Gonzi, Bernhard Pichl, Klaus Graf, Steffen Schorn, Vladimir Kostadinovic, Roman Schwaller and Andy Middleton.