Manuel Torres Arias studied composition, piano and music theory with Ma. Antonieta Lozano, Victor Rasgado, Tomás Barreiro and Enrico Chapela at the Centre for Music Research and Education (C.I.E.M.) in Mexico City. He holds the diplomas of licentiate in Music Theory, Literature, and Criticism and in Compositional Techniques from Trinity College London. In 2011, he obtained the degree of Master of Music with specialisation in composition from the Conservatory of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, studying with Klaas de Vries, Peter Jan Wagemans, Robin de Raaf (composition) Rene Uijlenhoet (electronic music) and Willem Tanke (improvisation), among others. 
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In 2018 he obtained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from King ́s College London, where he studied with professors Silvina Milstein, Rob Keeley, and George Benjamin. 
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Since 2010 he has been a recipient of the Mexican National Fund for the Culture and the Arts (FONCA) for his work as a composer and educator, and for his research on topics such as the psychology of the creative process in composers or the relationship of music with other arts.

His music has been played in Mexico, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, Greece, Germany, and Japan, by groups and performers such as the Mexico City Philarmonic, Xalapa Symphony Orchestra, Asko Schoenberg Ensemble, Liminar, Lontano, CEPROMUSIC, and the pianists Maarten van Veen and Aska Iino. 
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His work has been featured in festivals such as the Manuel Enriquez Forum for New Music (Mexico), Spring Festival (Holland), Electric Nights (Athens) and Modernist Surfaces (London); and awarded in competitions such as the Senzoku International Composition Competition (Japan, 2nd prize, 2015), Carl Von Ossietzky Competition (Germany, special mention of the jury, 2015), the ´Young Composers Competition´ of the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra (Mexico, 2017) or the Young Creators Commissioning Scheme of the Mexican Council for the Arts (2015-2016 and 2017-2018).
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Asides from his music for the concert hall he has participated in several collaborative projects, writing music for short films, radio plays, installations, dance and multidisciplinary performances, which has been presented in venues such as the Experimental Forum for Dance (Mexico), Laurie Grove Performance Lab (London) or Kultuur Brauerei (Berlin). 
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He lives in London, working as a freelance composer, writer, and music educator.