After reading Classics at Clare College, Cambridge, Manze studied the violin and rapidly became a leading specialist in the world of historical performance practice. He became Associate Director of The Academy of Ancient Music in 1996 and then Artistic Director of The English Concert from 2003 to 2007. Both as a conductor and violinist Manze has released an astonishing variety of CDs, many of them award-winning.
The last few years have seen Andrew Manze’s rapid emergence as one of the most stimulating and inspirational conductors of his generation. He is driven by a passion for music from the baroque to the contemporary and his extensive repertoire knowledge coupled with his unique skills as a communicator have also marked him out as a particular favourite with both orchestral players and audiences.
Manze has been Principal Conductor of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Sweden, since September 2006. He has recorded a number of CDs with them including Beethoven’s Eroica (Harmonia Mundi), Stenhammer Piano Concerti (Hyperion), and a Brahms cycle for CPO. Manze also assumed the role of Associate Guest Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra from the 2010-11 season.
Manze is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and a Visiting Professor at the Oslo Academy and has contributed to new editions of sonatas and concertos by Mozart and Bach published by Bärenreiter and Breitkopf and Härtel. He also teaches, edits and writes about music, as well as broadcasting regularly on radio and television.