Manuel Durão, born in 1987, studied composition at the conservatory in his home city of Lisbon. In Germany, he completed his studies with a diploma and masterclass exams at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig under Reinhard Pfundt (composition) and Barbara Rucha (conducting). After studies with Sidney Corbett, he became a doctoral student at the Mannheim State University of Music in 2019. His research project focuses on the musical characteristics of German speech melody.

He has taught aural training and music theory at the music academies in Leipzig and Nuremberg as well as at the universities for church music in Halle (Saale) and Heidelberg. He currently teaches composition at the latter. Since 2022, he has been an academic assistant for aural training and music theory at the State University of Music Trossingen.

Manuel Durão has received scholarships from the state of Baden-Württemberg, the Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon, the DAAD and the Deutsche Bank Foundation’s Akademie Musiktheater heute. He has received the MDR Composition Prize and the Saxon Music Association Prize, among others. His works have been performed at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Kölner Philharmonie, the Hamburg State Opera, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and by ensembles such as the MDR Symphony Orchestra and Radio Choir, the Zafraan Ensemble Berlin and the Symphony Orchestra of the Portuguese National Theatre. His music has been broadcast and recorded at home and abroad. 

In the field of music education, he teaches composition workshops for children and young people and conducts amateur orchestras. He is currently musical director of the chamber orchestra Collegium musicum Aalen.