Born in Graz, Manuel Hofer studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna (Siegfried Führlinger), the University Mozarteum Salzburg (Thomas Riebl) and the Musikhochschule ‘Hanns Eisler’ Berlin (Lars Anders Tomter and Tabea Zimmermann); he also studied chamber music with Rainer Schmid (Hagen Quartet), Eberhard Feltz (Academy of Music ‘Hanns Eisler’) and György Kurtag. Manuel was the first and only viola player to win the Austrian Klassikpreis Gradus ad Parnassum and performs concert and radio recordings with the Armida Quartet. Manuel’s curiosity for early music is reflected in collaborations with Dorothee Oberlinger, Andreas Scholl, Anthony Romaniuk and Marco Testori. As a laureate of the International Stockhausen Foundation, he is committed to performing the music of the present as often as he can, and has had a work dedicated to him and Stuttgarter Kammerorchester by Samir Odeh-Tamimi. In addition to being the principal violist of Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Manuel has performed as soloist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.