Andre Collin

Andre Collin was born on 20 February 1898 in Namur (Belgium). His father is the director of the local conservatory and Andre Collin followed his footsteps. He studied at the Brussels conservatory under Paul Gilson (composition) and won first prizes for his studies in cello, harmony, counterpoint and fugue.
After his studies Andre Collin first started a career as a composer. In 1923 he won the Belgian Prix de Rome. Further compositions followed, for example his "Variations symphoniques sur un theme populaire wallon" for orchestra were performed under his baton at the Casino de Knocke in 1932. But it seems that Andre Collin changed his career from a composer to a pedagogue and conductor in the 1930s.
In 1935 Andre Collin became the director of the Tournai conservatory. His output as a composer dropped and he put much time into development of the conservatory and his lecturing. In addition he also conducted the conservatory orchestra and brought on stage contemporary Belgian composers like Jean Absil, Godfried Deevreese and Joseph Jongen. He remained in this position until 1951 when he was appointed director of the conservatory in Mons. Andre Collin remained in this position until his retirement in 1963.
Andre Collin died on 12 May 1975 in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre (Belgium).

There is not much information about the work catalogue of Andre Collin. He composed some orchestral works like the Variations symphoniques, Sevillana, Triptyque maritime and Interleude et Danse, the ballet "Le Carillon de Saint-Aubain", the stage work "Le Nuton" and some chamber music.

In my possession are three autograph manuscripts of compositions by Andre Collin:

• Nocturne pour piano (1928)
• Improvisation pour voix et piano (1927)
• Danse pour orchestre - reduction pour piano (1934)