EMILY MANZO is a pianist, vocalist, composer, and arts organizer whom TimeOut New York calls “a uniquely protean artist who makes several scenes move,” with The New York Times applauding her “exceptional attention to detail.” She has performed extensively across the U.S. and Europe in chamber, experimental, and rock music settings.

Her collaborative work spans many disciplines. She scored filmmaker Paul Rowley’s 2010 experimental feature The Rooms, which premiered at the Pompidou Centre in Paris. She has received songwriting and opera commissions from presenters including Bayerischer Rundfunk and Experiments in Opera, and has been fortunate to perform on Naama Tsabar’s sculptural, site-specific instruments.

Emily is a member of the Julius Eastman Memorial Dinner and has toured with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Till by Turning, Arooj Aftab, and the duo Christy & Emily. As a vocalist and pianist, her recordings appear on Tzadik, New Amsterdam Records, SHSK’H, The Social Registry, Big Print, Klangbad, Merge, and Jagjaguwar.

Emily considers it a profound honor to work as an educator and mentor, sharing her deep love of music and guiding learners of all ages in creative exploration, listening, and personal growth. With support from the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Foundation, she developed a high school interdisciplinary curriculum based on the Chopin Preludes, and she spent many years teaching and mentoring with viBe SongMakers, part of the viBe Theater Experience—a free, six-month NYC program for teen girls and gender-expansive youth to create, record, and perform original music.

Her forthcoming solo release, Time in Water—featuring piano works written for her by Aaron Siegel and Mary Halvorson—will be released in January 2026 on Gold Bolus Recordings.