Manu Delago

Austrian composer, percussionist and handpan pioneer combining acoustic virtuosity, electronics, chamber textures and large-scale collaborative performance.

Manu Delago is an Austrian composer and percussionist whose work has played a major role in bringing the handpan into contemporary concert, electronic and orchestral settings. Trained in classical percussion, jazz drums and composition, he developed a distinctive language in which tuned steel interacts with electronics, strings, percussion and detailed ensemble writing. Delago has collaborated and toured with artists including Björk, Anoushka Shankar, Ólafur Arnalds and The Cinematic Orchestra, while also leading his own bands and audiovisual projects. Works such as “Parasol Peak” and the ReCycling Tour connect music with landscape, movement and environmental ideas. His playing can be highly virtuosic, but the larger focus is compositional architecture: handpan timbre is placed inside evolving rhythmic and harmonic systems. This makes his catalogue especially relevant to listeners interested in crossover between handpan, neoclassical music, jazz and electronic production.