Harpist and period instrument expert Manuel Vilas was born in Santiago de Compostela, where he began his musical education, before going on to further studies in Madrid and Milan.
He regularly appears as a soloist and with different ensembles at leading festivals worldwide, and has lectured and given masterclasses at venues in Spain, Holland, Cuba, the US and Latin America. He has appeared as a soloist or accompanist on more than 60 recordings of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque repertoire, and is founder-director of the Ars Atlántica ensemble, with whom he has recorded the complete songs of the Guerra Manuscript.
Among many other things, he specialises in accompanying song recitals, and has worked with renowned singers such as Marta Infante, Guillemette Laurens, Raquel Andueza, Maria Jonas, Juan Sancho, Roberta Invernizzi, Jose Antonio López, Isabel Álvarez, Yetzabel Arias and Monica Piccinini.
He has his own YouTube channel (ArpaManuelVilas) featuring performances on a range of historic harps filmed in different locations in Santiago de Compostela.