Manuel Teles is a Portuguese saxophonist with more than twenty national and international awards. A graduate of Milan’s Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, where he completed his MMus with Summa Cum Laude under the guidance of Mario Marzi, he began his musical studies at Conservatório de Palmela and the Lisbon Metropolitana Music School with João Pedro Silva.

Versatile and inquisitive, Teles moves fluidly between modern, experimental, classical, orchestral, and improvised music. He has performed in many of Europe’s leading venues, including Teatro alla Scala, Centro Cultural de Belém, Teatro Filarmonico di Verona, Casa da Música, MEO Arena, Auditorium Parco della Musica, the Lisbon and Porto Coliseums, and Gulbenkian.

His career includes collaborations with the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Divertimento Ensemble, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, mdi ensemble, and the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra. He has worked with musicians, conductors, and composers such as Salvatore Sciarrino, Myung-Whun Chung, Jacob TV, Gavin Bryars, Mikel Urquiza, Luís Tinoco, Maxime Pascal, Pedro Amaral, António Victorino D’Almeida, and Martim Sousa Tavares. A parallel interest in non-Western musical traditions, particularly from southeastern Europe and India, has also shaped his artistic path, inspiring collaborations with artists such as Hariprasad Chaurasia.

In 2019, the year Palmela was a candidate for UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, he was awarded the Silver Medal of Cultural Merit.

With percussionist Paulo Amendoeira, he forms the Astrus Duo. In 2022, they released Ascolta! (mpmp), featuring new Portuguese music for saxophone and percussion by Daniel Bernardes, João Pedro Oliveira, João Quinteiro, Telmo Marques, and Paulo Jorge Ferreira.

His solo CD Lisboa-Milano (Stradivarius, 2023) includes works by Salvatore Sciarrino, Luca Francesconi, João Pedro Oliveira, Christopher Bochmann, and Vincenzo Parisi. Amadeus Magazine described his approach to the instrument as “treating the sax as a rebellious kid” - a description he proudly embraces!

2025 brought Stepdance, his most recent record with pianist Alexandra Tchernakova, featuring a vibrant selection of pieces by Mário Laginha, Gavin Bryars, Chick Corea, Fazil Say, and António Victorino D’Almeida.