Paulo Bastos was born in Vila Pouca de Aguiar. He began his musical studies at the Porto Music School, under the guidance of Professor Hélia Soveral. He studied Composition at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo, where he was distinguished with the “Prize for the best student on the course” from the Instituto Politécnico do Porto in 1994. In 2005 he completed his Masters in Musical Analysis at the University of Aveiro.
He worked with composers and groups such as Álvaro Salazar, Dieter Schnebel, Gerhard Stäbler, Jorge Peixinho, Luís Filipe Pires, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, Nicolaus A. Huber, Sharon Kanach, among others.
Much of his production focuses on chamber music and children's music, despite the significant number of orchestral works, for solo instruments and electronics. Some premieres, recordings, as well as dedications and commissions of his music, have been destined for groups and musicians of reputed quality such as Coro de Pequenos Cantores de Esposende, Coro Voximini, Duo Jost Costa, Duo Pianísimo, Doppio Ensemble, Grupo Música Nova, Young Singers of Guimarães, Jovem Orquestra do Porto, Kinetix Duo, Kla-Vier Duo, L'Effetto Ensemble, Nomad Duo, Orquestra de Cordas Dedilhadas do Minho, Orquestra Portuguesa de Guitarras e Mandolins, Quad Quartet, Síntese – Contemporary Music Group, Anne Mercier, Carlos Guilherme, Domingos Costa, Dora Rodrigues, Elsa Silva, Fernando Ramos, João Tiago Magalhães, Jonathan Silva, Justin DeHart, Mário João Alves, Ricardo Antão, Ricardo Pereira, Romeu Costa, Rui Gama, Rui Lopes, Sébastien Paul, as well as others.
Some of his works are published in sheet music and on CD by APEM, Artway, Arpejo Editora, Association Bar&Co, AVA Musical Editions, MIC.PT, Porto Editora, Revista Salicus, Scherzo Editions, Sonescola, and Universidade do Minho.
He has been a professor since 1996 at the Calouste Gulbenkian Music Conservatory in Braga where he teaches Introduction and Composition Techniques, ATC, Composition and Electronic Music. He was responsible for implementing the first secondary composition course in Portugal, operating since 2000 at this conservatory, and from which a new, and already very numerous, generation of composers called the Braga School of Composition comes.