Manfred Weiss (12 February 1935 – 25 April 2023) was a German composer especially of symphonies, concertos and vocal music, based in Dresden.

[2] After his Abitur in 1952,[3] Weiss studied at the Staatliche Hochschule für Theater und Musik Halle [de] until 1955, composition with Hans Stieber and music theory with Franz von Glasenapp.

[2] From 1955 to 1957 he studied at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" in East Berlin,[1] composition with Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, and music theory with Ruth Zechlin (harmony) and Jürgen Wilbrandt (counterpoint) [2][4] He graduated in 1957, but was not accepted for a position in Berlin due to critical remarks about the East German uprising of 1953.

[2] In 1959, he was appointed a lecturer for composition at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden.

His models include Béla Bartók, Paul Hindemith, György Ligeti, Witold Lutosławski, Arnold Schönberg and Igor Stravinsky.

Main works include:[3] His song cycle was first performed at the Stadttheater Cottbus in 1976, with soloist Günther Leib and conductor F.