Philippe Manoury took up music at the age of nine. Soon thereafter, he started teaching himself the rudiments of composition. He went on to study piano with Pierre Sancan, as well as theory and counterpoint, at the Paris École Normale de Musique. In the early-1970s, following the advice of Gérard Condé, who introduced him to Max Deutsch at the aforementioned institution, Manoury turned exclusively to composition. He later studied composition with Michel Philippot and Ivo Malec, and analysis with Claude Ballif, at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP). Finally, in 1975, he undertook study of computer-aided composition with Pierre Barbaud.

The music of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez and Iannis Xenakis strongly influenced his early works. For Manoury, the act of composing constitutes the application of processes which transform material and, by extension, perception. Many of his works can be seen as parts of a vast cycle in which each piece draws upon, and transforms, material from those that came before through the application of novel processes of real-time electronics. For example, the works for solo instruments with live electronics Jupiter (for flute; awarded the SACEM Prize in 1988 for “Best Performance”) and Pluton (for MIDI-controlled piano) paved the way for the composition of La Partition du ciel et de l’enfer (itself part of the large-scale “Sonus ex machina” cycle of concertos), and subsequently, Neptune for percussion ensemble.

Already a familiar figure at major festivals and concerts of new music from the age of 19, it was through the premiere of Cryptophonos by pianist Claude Helffer at the Metz Festival that Manoury achieved truly broad recognition as a composer. In 1978, he moved to Brazil, where he taught and lectured on contemporary music at various universities. He returned to France in 1981 to pursue research at IRCAM. Since then, he has remained active as a composer and professor at the institution. His research from the early-1980s gave rise to Zeitlauf (1982) for mixed choir, chamber ensemble, synthesisers and tape. He went on to work in close collaboration with Miller Puckette on the interaction between acoustic instruments and technology, creating systems that were able to simulate acoustic instrument behaviors and follow them in real time, thereby integrating interpretative elements into musical composition itself and into the computer-generated sounds. Manoury’s cycle of interactive works, “Sonus ex machina,” for different groups of instruments with electronics, as well as En écho for soprano and electronics, remain milestones in their application of these technologies.

From 1983 to 1987, Philippe Manoury was Director of Pedagogy for Ensemble Intercontemporain, and from 1987 to 1997, taught composition at the Lyon Conservatory (CNSM). From 1998 to 2000, he directed the European Music Academy at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Additionally, he has led numerous composition seminars in France and elsewhere. From 1995 to 2001, he was composer-in-residence with the Paris Orchestra, and from 2001 to 2003 at the Scène nationale d’Orléans. From 2004 to 2012, he taught composition at the University of California in San Diego. In 2013, he became a professor of composition at the Strasbourg Conservatory, and in the same year was in residence with the Paris Chamber Orchestra. Finally, in 2017, he held the Chaire de Création Artistique at the Collège de France.

Manoury’s catalogue contains works of all scales and scopes: solo pieces, mixed music works (e.g., On-Iron [2006] for choir, video and electronics; and Partita I for viola and electronics), chamber music, pieces for choir and orchestral music, including Sound and Fury, premiered by Pierre Boulez and the Chicago and Cleveland Symphony Orchestras. He has also composed four operas: 60e Parallèle, premiered in 1998 at the Théâtre du Châtelet; K…, based on Kafka’s “The Trial,” premiered in 2001 at the Bastille Opera and subsequently awarded the SACD “Grand Prix,” the Critic’s Prize in 2001 and the Prince Pierre of Monaco Prize in 2002; La Frontière, premiered in 2003 during his residency at the Scène nationale d’Orléans; and La nuit de Gutenberg, premiered at the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg as part of the Musica Festival in 2011. For the latter opera, Manoury was named “Composer of the Year” at the French “Victoires de la Musique” ceremony in 2012.

More recent notable works include: Terra Ignota (2007) for piano and orchestra (conducted by the pianist); Abgrund (2007) for orchestra; Gesänge-Gedanken (2009), a cycle of melodies for contralto and chamber ensemble set to texts by Nietzsche; Instants pluriels (2008) for two ensembles; Synapse (2010) for violin and orchestra; the string quartets Tensio (with electronics) and Stringendo, both from 2010; and Hypothèses du sextuor, premiered by Accroche Note Ensemble at the Musica Festival in 2011. His concerto for piano, orchestra and electronics, Echo-daimónon, commissioned by the Paris Orchestra, was premiered at ManiFeste in June 2012, and the following month, Partita II for violin and electronics was premiered at the Messiaen Festival at Pays de la Meije. In 2017, his lyrical/scenic work Kein Licht, a collaboration with theatre director Nicolas Stemann, was premiered at the Ruhr Triennale (Germany) and the Opéra Comique in Paris. In September 2018, his electronic, real-time installation L’Échelle, which responds to the passage of each hour, day, month and year, was unveiled at the Scala Theatre in Paris. He is currently working on the Köln Trilogy, of which the first part, Ring, was premiered by the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne in May 2016.

Philippe Manoury became an Officer of Arts and Letters (France) in 2014 and a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts in 2015.