Léo Collin (France 1990*) . He grew up in a small village in the Jura region before moving to Besançon and Marseille to attend an applied arts high school. Initially torn between visual arts and music, he chosed to the study of European classical music. He enrolled in conservatories in Lyon and Annecy, take classes on piano, viola and contemporary composition and film music. He also studied on the side theology.
In Geneva, Collin completed a bachelor’s degree under the guidance of Michael Jarrell and Luis Naón. In 2015, he performed Michael Jarrell’s monodrama Siegfried at the Comédie de Genève and Blaise Ubaldini’s 4.48 Psychosis, developing a deep appreciation for the performative aspects of music.
He spent a year as an exchange student in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, studying with Brice Pauset and participating in projects like Groove Space at the Freiburg Opera, directed by Sebastian Matthias.
During this time, he participated in numerous workshops, academies, and composition competitions across Europe. There, his scores have been performed by ensembles including Les Métaboles, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Soundinitiative (Paris), Lemanic Modern Ensemble (Basel), Lucillin (Luxembourg), Avanti! Chamber Orchestra (Helsinki), Batida and Eklekto (Geneva), Les Voix Animées (Toulon), Musicatreize (Marseille), Öx&Öl (Zürich), and Inverspace (Mannheim). He did some religious music to performative and concert pieces, alongside electronic compositions for theater and dance, notably for Alessandro Sciarroni ( IRCAM, Paris le 104 ). In 2015, Collin moved to Zürich for a master’s degree in composition under Isabel Mundry and German Toro-Perez.
In Zürich, Collin developed significant collaborations with artists like Kay Zhang, Nuriia Khasenova, Leandro Gianini, Dalius Singer, Mariana Grünig, and Simon Dieterdorfer, with whom he developed his composer-theater projects. He also became an active performer (piano, percussion, voice). In 2018, he undertook a three-month residency in Hong Kong, followed by a mini-tour in Australia and New Zealand.
After completing his studies, he worked as an assistant to artist Jörg Köppl and created audio performances such as Mono, Motor Mutter, Der Pilz Im Patent, and Das geklaute Gehör. He had an experience for composing for director Marco Milling (Schauspielhaus Zürich, and Deutsches Theater Berlin)
In 2021, Collin was awarded the Werkjahr Prize from the City of Zürich and became a curator for IGNM Zürich, programming several concerts each season. In 2019, he staged and performed Peter Eötvös’s Atlantis with his trio (KIT), which earned the Nicati Open Space Award. That same year, he premiered Baleen, his first musical theater project, at Gessnerallee Zürich, followed by Medusen (2021) and Corals(2023), which were the finale combination of years of musical experiments.
He composed music for Colonial Washing, a dance piece by Bernadette Köbele exploring colonialism in Sumatra, Indonesia. In 2023 and 2024, he adapted Baleen, Medusen, and Corals for site-specific performances in Thurgau, Switzerland, under the theme “Stadt Land See.” Baleen was also performed at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum and he did a research in Japon for Das geklaute Gehör.
In 2023, with the Christoph Delz Werkjahr, Collin delved into soundfield recording, travelling through Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and South Africa to document themes of death and remembrance. Simultaneously, he co-produced and performed as a guitarist in Charles Quevillon’s Electronic Unconscious. In Summer 2024, he staged Hyper Duo (Gilles Grimaitre and Julien Mégroz) on Hyper Heimat and creates Blind Test, a site-specific audioperformance coproduced by the Rümlingen Festival (Switzerland).
In 2025 , Collin will partner with Kapitolina Tsvetkova to develop Plankton, his next musical theater aventure. He also composes for Francesca Sproccati for her new piece Venire Meno. For 2025- 2026 he curate the season of Ensemble Tzara (Zürich).
Léo Collin’s multifaceted practice as a composer, performer, curator, and researcher reflects his interest for the extended technics of contemporary music, the field experience by the research and reflective and therapeutic aspects by text and mouvement.
He composes with his personal experience, the internet mainstream, ideas what some non fictional books, political reflexions and sounds from experimental musicians.
