Manu Delago

Manu Delago

Manu Delago is an Austrian musician and composer known for his work on the Hang, the Swiss hand-played percussion instrument. He begins playing the Hang in 2003 and also develops an interest in writing music at the same time. His solo Hang piece Mono Desire becomes widely viewed online and is associated with his profile as a Hang player.

Training and musical development

Delago graduates in classical percussion from the Mozarteum in Innsbruck and later moves to London, where he studies jazz drums at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. His teachers include Jojo Mayer, Troy Miller and Luke Flowers. He also takes arranging and orchestration lessons with Scott Stroman and Matthew King, which leads him to study composition at Trinity College of Music in London.

Projects and performances

He performs with his ensembles Manu Delago Handmade and Living Room, including Living Room in London, across Europe and in North and South America and Asia. These projects bring him to venues and cities including London, Paris, Moscow, Berlin, Athens, Madrid and Vienna. He also performs at venues such as the Roundhouse in London, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing and the Downtown Independent Theatre in Los Angeles.

Compositions and collaborations

Among his works, If you’re really right is a composition for three players on two marimbas and enters the repertoire of many percussion ensembles, with performances in concert halls such as the Konzerthaus Vienna. Turbo-Lento, written for Hang, bass clarinet and string trio, is premiered at the Klangspuren Festival in Schwaz by Living Room in London, an ensemble that includes Christoph Pepe Auer and string players from the London Symphony Orchestra. Delago also collaborates with artists including Shpongle, Boris Grebenshikov, Zabine, Georg Breinschmid, Wolfgang Puschnig, Bluatschink, Jazzwerkstatt Vienna and Giannis Charoulis.