Mat Maneri was born October 4, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of saxophonist and composer Joe Maneri. He began studying violin at five, received a full scholarship as principal violinist at Walnut Hill High School and the New England Conservatory of Music, but left classical training to pursue a professional career in jazz.

A virtuoso avant-garde violinist and violist, Maneri draws on eclectic influences including Baroque music, composer Elliott Carter, and the Second Viennese School of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern. He made his debut as a leader on the 1998 quintet session Acceptance, followed by small-group recordings including 1999's So What, 2001's Trinity, and 2005's Pentagon. He has collaborated on dozens of projects, including 2017's Sounding Tears with Lucian Ban and Evan Parker, 2019's quartet album Dust, 2020's Transylvanian Folk Songs with Ban and John Surman, 2023's Unshaped Words with Gordon Grdina, and 2024's Transylvanian Dances with Ban. In 2025 the Surman/Ban/Maneri trio released Cantica Profana and The Athenaeum Concert, and in 2026 Maneri's quartet released Mist on Sunnyside.

Maneri's fusion of classical influences ranging from Baroque composition to the Second Viennese School with free jazz improvisation, carried forward from his father Joe Maneri's own microtonal explorations, made him one of the most distinctive violin and viola voices in contemporary avant-garde jazz.