Pianist and composer Visa Oscar (Visa-Pekka Oskari Mertanen, b. 1976) is a doctoral student at the University of the Arts Helsinki. He has worked for over twenty years as a professional keyboardist, composer, arranger and producer. He leads his own jazz-fusion band Visa Oscar Group and tours regularly with the jazz-influenced afrobeat group Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble. Other band projects include electronica duo Binary Boyz and operatic EDM duo Opera Skaala.

During his career Visa has appeared on keyboards in Sibis Alumni Big Band with
John Scofield and Jim McNeely at the Helsinki Music Centre, written orchestral arrangements for the Finnish pop band Sunrise Avenue and composed two multimedia operas for Opera Skaala. He has also worked regularly with Finnish bands Ma Baker's Soul Factory, Mistura Fina, Northern Lights Big Band, Oulunkylä Big Band, Waldo's People, Maija Vilkkumaa and Taikapeili.

In 2015 the "Heart of Light" that he co-wrote and co-produced won the third place in the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE)’s competition UMK15 for Eurovision Song Contest. Likewise in 2013 his big band composition "Balkan Express" received the third prize in the biannual Esko Linnavalli Composing Competition.

Visa Oscar works regularly as a freelance musician and arranger and has appeared on several Finnish recordings, tours and TV performances. He works as an assistant researcher at the University of Arts Helsinki and teaches regularly at Karelia University of Applied Sciences.

Visa Oscar Group’s first album, Fusion Treatment, was released in October 2015.