Manuel Teles is a Portuguese saxophonist with over twenty national and international awards. He graduated from Giuseppe Verdi Milan Conservatory with Summa Cum Laude under the guidance of Mario Marzi. His musical journey started at Palmela’s Conservatory and Lisbon Metropolitana Music School, studying with João Pedro Silva.

Teles’ versatility spans modern music, classical saxophone repertoire, improvisation, and orchestral performance. He has appeared in some of Europe’s most prestigious venues, including Teatro alla Scala, Centro Cultural de Belém, Teatro Filarmonico di Verona, Casa da Música, MEO Arena, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Lisbon and Porto Coliseums, and Gulbenkian.

His collaborations include performances with Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Divertimento Ensemble, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, mdi ensemble and Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra. He has worked alongside several musicians, conductors, and composers 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. His parallel interest in other cultural traditions, particularly those from southeastern Europe and India, has been a deep guideline and inspiration to explore different musical conceptions, leading to collaborations with artists as Hariprasad Chaurasia.

In 2019, the year Palmela was a candidate for UNESCO's Creative Cities Network, Manuel Teles received the Silver Medal of Cultural Merit.

Together with the percussionist Paulo Amendoeira he forms the Astrus Duo. In 2022 they released the album Ascolta!, with works by Daniel Bernardes, João Pedro Oliveira, João Quinteiro, Telmo Marques and Paulo Jorge Ferreira.

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

2025 brings a new album in duo with pianist Alexandra Tchernakova, featuring music by Mário Laginha, Gavin Bryars, Chick Corea, Fazil Say and António Victorino D’Almeida, under the British label GB Records.