Manuel Geier lives with his wife and three children in Keltern, Germany. He has been playing in classical ensembles and orchestras since early childhood. In 2003, he performed a series of concerts—both as an ensemble member and a soloist—with the "Strike Percussion Ensemble" in Michigan, USA.
After ten years of percussion, drum, and piano lessons with Albrecht Volz and Thomas Aman at the Renningen Music School in Germany, he spent a year in intensive drum training with Don Raaymakers (MI, USA / Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble).
Upon returning to Germany, he studied classical percussion with Gerald Koeck (Stuttgart Philharmonic) for about four years.
In 2007, he began studying percussion (music education and orchestral music) at the University of Music SAAR under Prof. Thomas Keemss and Matthias Weissenauer, completing his pre-diploma with top marks in the spring of 2010.
He then attended the University of Music Karlsruhe to study with Prof. Isao Nakamura, Jochen Brenner, and Thomas Hoefs.
There, he earned his Bachelor of Music in performance and education with honors in 2012, followed by a Master of Music in percussion performance with distinction in 2016.
At the age of 14, Geier first experimented with composing electronic music using an old Atari computer and an 8-track cassette recorder. His early work focused on connecting, shifting, merging, extracting, inverting, reflecting, reversing, twisting, phasing, and overlapping melodic and rhythmic patterns, which sparked his lifelong passion for composition. He later deepened his private composition studies with Kathrin A. Denner and Prof. Markus Hechtle.
His music is strongly driven by the desire to connect complexity with simplicity. Through this approach, he aims to help listeners, performers, and himself develop a deep sensitivity to artistic content, gaining new insights into musical material. Alongside mathematical and physical elements—such as generating noise, sound waves, frequencies, and exploring the endless possibilities of electronics — spiritual and meditative values form the core focus of his music.
Highlights of recent years include the world premieres of
several of his original works. His compositions received enthusiastic audience feedback at chamber music nights at the Saarbrücken Opera and during percussion concerts at the University of Music Karlsruhe. In addition to radio productions and CD recordings, he regularly performs as a guest musician
with the Karlsruhe State Theatre and the State Symphony
Orchestra of Saarland. With the latter, he performed in the European premiere of Tan Dun's The First Emperor and the German premiere of John Adams' Doctor Atomic.
He has also played in various ensembles, including performances of works by Steve Reich and Luigi Nono at the "ZeitGenuss" festival of contemporary music.
His musical development has been shaped by masterclasses in classical percussion (with Franz Lang, Peter Sadlo, Kunihiko Komori, Momoko Kamiya, Marta Klimasara, Klaus Dreher, Matthias Schmit, and Evgeniya Kavaldzhieva), composition (with Bernhard Lang, Anne Wellmer, Matthias Ockert, Annesley Black,
and Brigitta Muntendorf), improvisation (with David Friedman), pop drum kit (with Benny Greb and Simon Phillips), and pop percussion (with Claudio Spieler).Music education remains one of his highest priorities. He passionately dedicates himself to teaching percussion students and supporting young musicians. Since 2013, he has taught at the Ettlingen Music School, where his students have included national prize winners in the prestigious "Jugend musiziert" competition.
