BA in Asian Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder.
Faculty member since 2000.  Dance Division Music Director since  
1991.  Associate Accompanist 1984-1990.
Supervises 10-12 departmental musicians, specializing in authenticity (Drummers from Africa, Ballet Pianists from Russia, Flamenco guitarists for Flamenco dance class), and modern dance accompanists  who play piano and percussion but also cello, accordion, bagpipes and  other instruments not often heard in the dance studio.
Original scores commissioned for CU dance concerts include  collaborations with Onye Ozuzu, Nada Diachenko, David Capps, Nancy  Spanier, Mel Wong, Toby Hankin, Aaron Smith, and Liz Lerman.
Manno has created over 100 original scores for dance, theatre, film  and multimedia productions, many of them evening length works. Some  recent commissioning artists/organizations include Gabriel Masson and  the Bates Dance Festival, Mothers Acting Up, David Taylor Dance  Theatre, Turning The Wheel, Inc (Intergenerational Dance) and the Off  Broadway show Lazer Vaudeville (high tech circus arts). His work has  been supported by three N.E.A. Meet the Composer grants, among  others, and has been presented in Germany, Holland, the U.K., Hong  Kong, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and 49 states of America.
Manno sings a lot in several languages and plays all sorts of  instruments, some with virtuosity and feeling, others just with  feeling. Some regulars are the Greek bouzouki, Turkish baglama, oud  (fretless lute), piano, bamboo flutes, African and Middle Eastern  percussion, and Drum Kit.  When alone in dance class he often plays  two or three at the same time as a "one man band".  His greatest  loves are Balkan and Middle Eastern music, neo-romantic music,  minimalism, and musique concrete, but he enjoys dabbling in many  genres as the situation demands- grunge, techno, salsa, highlife,  blues, bluegrass, opera.....
Manno grew part way up in New York City, the son of a musician and a  dancer, and later began accompanying and composing professionally for  dance in Colorado in the eighties.  He took several theory courses at  the CU Boulder College of Music, continues to study privately when  possible, and has studied folk music extensively through the East  
European Folklife Center.

Please visit http://www.jessemanno.com for detailed but possibly  
outdated information and CDs.