Vincenzo Manno was born in Augusta (SR) in 1901. He grew up in a musical family with his father Sigismondo, composer and conductor, and his uncles Gaetano and Vincenzo, respectively first trumpet in the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino orchestra and a teacher of conducting at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan. He completed his musical studies at the Conservatory Vincenzo Bellini in Palermo, where he obtained his diploma of piano (1925) and of composition (1926) under the direction of maestro Savasta. In 1925 he also graduated as a violinist at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, where he studied with Franco Tufari.

His career as a concert violinist began very early. As a young man, Vincenzo Manno played chamber and symphonic music as a soloist and as part of orchestral groups. In 1936 and 1937 he conducted the Symphonic Orchestra of the RAI (EIAR) for the first time. At those concerts he performed his compositions La Sagra and Rapsodia Siciliana, along with music by Wolf-Ferrari, Sibelius, Pick Mangiagalli, Ravel and Debussy. At the same time he was part of the Sanremo Municipal Orchestra, under the direction of Antonino Votto, and a member of the Quartetto d’archi of the EIAR.

Thereafter Vincenzo Manno devoted himself mainly to composition and conducting, working for over 15 years at the RAI (Italian Radiotelevision), initially as a violinist and then as a conductor of the Symphonic Orchestras of Turin, Venice and Rome. Resigning in 1950, he continued with the Symphonic orchestras of the RAI as a guest conductor. In addition, he conducted the orchestras of La Fenice in Venice, the Theatre Massimo in Palermo, the Accademy of S. Cecilia in Rome, the Municipal Theatre G. Verdi in Trieste and the Theatre Municipal Piccinni of Bari.

The RAI orchestras continued to perform several of his compositions, including Tre Invenzioni for piano and orchestra, Concerto for orchestra, Introduzione, Aria e Rondò, Capriccio for piano and orchestra. Some of his works have received national and international awards, such as those of the Musical City of Trieste for Tre Invenzioni for piano and orchestra (1951), for Introduzione, Aria e Rondò (1953) and a ‘signal of the Jury’ for Movimento sinfonico (1971), and the Queen Elisabeth Composition Prize for Concerto per orchestra (1965).

As a composer Vincenzo Manno has to his credit, in addition to the works mentioned above, several chamber works for small orchestra, for violin, violin and piano and symphonic music, as well as about 200 musical pieces used in films and documentaries. Among his major works are Poema della Montagna, Capriccio for archi, Sinfonietta, Sinfonia in tre tempi, Paesaggi, Improvviso for piano, Capriccio for piano, Cinque Episodi for orchestra, Sinfonia gotica, Fantasia subacquea and a dance poem for orchestra entitled Apothéose.

Vincenzo Manno died in Rome in 1981, where he is buried at the Prima Porte Cemetery next to his wife, the violinist Iole Rondini.