Born in Hungary, Márton Illés began his musical education in the network of Kodály schools in Győr. He then studied composition and piano at the Academy of Music in Basel and completed his training at the University of Music in Karlsruhe, where he studied composition with Wolfgang Rihm. His catalogue of works includes solo works, chamber music, vocal, orchestral works as well as musical theatre and electronic music.

In 2006, he created the Scene Polidimensionali ensemble with which he conductor and performed as pianist. His works have been performed and commissioned by numerous festivals and institutions, including the Europäischer Musikmonat (Basel), the Berlin Philharmonic, the Berlin Radio Orchestra and Chorus, the Budapest Festival's "Tribute to Bartók", the Hungarian Radio, Orchester de Caën, Musica Strasbourg, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Hessischer Rundfunk, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Munich Biennial, Klangspuren Festival, Swiss Radio DRS, and Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik. Among the many ensembles that have performed his music are the Ensemble Modern, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Minguet Quartet and the Munich Chamber Orchestra.

Márton Illés has been teaching music theory at the Karlsruhe University of Music since 2005, and taught composition at the Würzburg University of Music from 2011 to 2013. His works are published by Breitkopf & Härtel.