Marouan Mankar-Bennis first embarked upon his musical studies in Limoges, and then refined what he had learned with Élisabeth Joyé, who was to play a crucial role in his development. He joined the CNSM de Paris where he won the prizes for harpsichord and basso continuo in Olivier Baumont and Blandine Rannou’s classes. He completed his education at various summer academies where he attended classes taught by Bob van Asperen, Nicolau de Figueredo and Pierre Hantaï.
His work as both a concert performer and a choirmaster led him to work regularly with Vincent Dumestre, the conductor of Le Poème Harmonique with whom he has performed in London, New York, Brussels, Krakow, Saint Petersburg, Vienna and Tokyo. Among these recent collaborations we must mention the recording of Michel Lambert’s Leçons de Ténèbres with the baritone Marc Mauillon for Harmonia Mundi, and the creations based around the 18th-century fairground parody repertoire with the Pécheurs de Perles company.
He is fascinated by research and teaching and holds the Certificat d'Aptitude vocational teaching certificate. He was also awarded the Société Générale musical patronage grant. He currently teaches at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Départemental de Pantin and regularly supervises work experience placements and artistic projects both in France and abroad - for instance at the University of Santander in Spain, the Academy of Music in Vilnius and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.