Manuel Teles is a Portuguese saxophonist distinguished with more than twenty national and international awards. He holds both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, graduating Summa Cum Laude, after beginning his musical studies at Palmela Conservatory and Metropolitana Music School in Lisbon.
Deeply committed to the creation and dissemination of contemporary music, he dedicates his work to performing, commissioning, and recording new repertoire, both as a soloist and within various chamber formations, often seeking to intersect it with other artistic expressions. His versatility spans modern music, the classical saxophone repertoire, improvisation, experimental practices, and orchestral performance.
He has performed in venues as Teatro alla Scala, Centro Cultural de Belém, Teatro Filarmonico di Verona, Casa da Música, MEO Arena, Auditorium Parco della Musica, the Coliseums of Lisbon and Porto, Teatro di San Carlo, and Gulbenkian.
Teles collaborates regularly with renowned ensembles and orchestras such as the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Divertimento Ensemble, the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, mdi ensemble, and the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa. He has worked with conductors and composers including Salvatore Sciarrino, Myung-Whun Chung, Jacob ter Veldhuis, Gavin Bryars, Mikel Urquiza, Luís Tinoco, Maxime Pascal, Pedro Amaral, António Victorino D’Almeida, and Martim Sousa Tavares.
His fascination with other musical traditions, particularly those of South-Eastern Europe and India, has become a significant source of artistic orientation and inspiration, leading to collaborations with artists such as Hariprasad Chaurasia and encouraging a continual exploration of diverse sonic and conceptual approaches.
His discography includes Ascolta! (mpmp, 2022), featuring original works for saxophone and percussion by Daniel Bernardes, João Pedro Oliveira, João Quinteiro, Telmo Marques, and Paulo Jorge Ferreira; Lisboa–Milano (Stradivarius, 2023), dedicated to contemporary music for solo saxophone with works by Vincenzo Parisi, Luca Francesconi, Christopher Bochmann, João Pedro Oliveira, and Salvatore Sciarrino; and Stepdance (GB Records, 2025), recorded with pianist Alexandra Tchernakova, featuring works by Mário Laginha, Fazıl Say, Gavin Bryars, Chick Corea, and António Victorino D’Almeida.
www.manuelteles.net
