English baroque violinist and conductor, born 14th January 1965, Beckenham.
Among others, he studied with Simon Standage at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1988 he became first violin of The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Ton Koopman. He was also a member of the ensemble Romanesca with John Toll (harpsichord) and Nigel North (lute).
In 1996, he became associate director of The Academy of Ancient Music, then from 2003 to 2007, he was the director of the baroque orchestra The The English Concert, having succeeded the founder, English harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock. He was principal guest conductor of the Kringkastingsorkestret (Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra) between 2008 and 2011.
In 2006, he became the chief conductor of the Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester (Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra) and also assumed the role of associate guest conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra since November 2010.
Manze is also a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3, and one of the presenters of its The Early Music Show.