Manuel Maria Baltazar was born in Lourinhã on 20 November, 1927 and began his musical studies with maestro Augusto Carlos Franco, in the Lourinhã Volunteer Firefighter Band. At the age of 18, he joined the GNR, Band where he reached the rank of First Sergeant as saxophone player.
In 1970, he was invited by Maestro Marcos Romão to take exams in a competition, and was enlisted into the Navy as a Warrant Officer; in 1975, also by competition, he was promoted to Officer. On 29 January 1976, he took on the leadership of the Navy Band.
At the National Conservatory, he studied saxophone, acoustics, history of music, instrumentation, and composition. At the Gulbenkian Foundation he attended two band-conducting courses.
He made numerous transcriptions from orchestra to band, as well as harmonisations and instrumentations of our folklore. He is the author of several musical works, most notably 'Botão de Âncora' (awarded) and the suite 'Madeira'.
He left his position as head of the Navy Band on 4 November, 1987, curiously enough, precisely 60 years after his birth.
In 1982, as a member of the Navy Band, we should highlight his trips to Madeira and France, where he participated in the International Festival of Military Bands in Paris with 11 other bands from various nationalities, performing in a concert at the Cours de Rome in the Gare Saint-Lazare, a parade in the Champs Elysées, and also a tattoo at the Place de la Concorde, where he was one of the three foreign maestros invited to conduct the bands performing at the festival. In 1983, as part of the Navy Day celebrations, he performed in concerts in the nine islands of the Azores.
In 1986, on board the 'Sagres', the Band participated in the anniversary of Rádio Renascença, with a live performance on the show 'Despertar'. Other highlights include the annual concerts at Teatro da Trindade; the celebrations of the 5th Centennial of Pêro da Covilhã's voyage, in the city of Covilhã, and an article about the band in the newspaper 'O Século'.