Léo Collin (France, 1990*) 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 chose to study European classical music. He enrolled in conservatories in Lyon and Annecy, where he studied piano, viola, contemporary composition, and film music.
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 such as Groove Space at the Freiburg Opera, directed by Sebastian Matthias. During this time, he took part in numerous workshops, academies, and composition competitions across Europe. His scores have been performed by ensembles including Les Métaboles, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Soundinitiative (Paris), Lemanic Modern Ensemble (Basel), Lucilin (Luxembourg), Avanti! Chamber Orchestra (Helsinki), Batida and Eklekto (Geneva), Les Voix Animées (Toulon), Musicatreize (Marseille), Öx&Öl (Zürich), and Inverspace (Mannheim). He has composed most electronic music for theater and dance, notably for Alessandro Sciarroni (IRCAM, Paris, Le Centquatre). In 2015, Collin moved to Zurich to pursue a master’s degree in composition under Isabel Mundry and German Toro-Perez.
In Zurich, Collin developed significant collaborations with Kay Zhang, Nuriia Khasenova, Leandro Gianini, Dalius Singer, Mariana Grünig, and Simon Dieterdorfer, with whom he developed his composer-theater projects. He also became active as a performer (piano, percussion, and 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 the artist Jörg Köppl and created audio performances such as Mono, Motor Mutter, Der Pilz im Patent, and Das geklaute Gehör. He also composed for director Marco Milling (Schauspielhaus Zürich and Deutsches Theater Berlin).
In 2019, he staged and performed Peter Eötvös’s Atlantis with his trio Kollektiv international totem, which received the Nicati Open Space Award. That same year, he premiered Baleen, his first music-theater project, at Gessnerallee Zurich, followed by Medusen (2021) and Corals (2023), which marked the culmination of years of musical experimentation.
In 2021, Collin was awarded the Werkjahr Prize from the City of Zurich and became a curator for IGNM Zürich, programming several concerts each season.
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 conducted research in Japan for Das geklaute Gehör.
In 2023, with the Christoph Delz Werkjahr grant, Collin delved into sound field recording, traveling through Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and South Africa to document themes of death and remembrance. At the same time, 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 created Blind Test, a site-specific audio performance co-produced by the Rümlingen Festival (Switzerland).
In 2025, Léo created Plankton, a music-theater piece for 12 musicians and 4 performers, in collaboration with Kapitolina Tsvetkova and the Collegium Novum Zürich. He also composed for Francesca Sproccati’s new piece Venire Meno. For the 2025–2026 season, he curates Ensemble Tzara (Zurich).
IN
STATEMENT
Léo’s practice intertwines contemporary music, spoken forms, and multimedia elements—text, video, sound, and stage—to distort mainstream European and North American culture and respond to ecological and existential crises. He composes immersive pieces for non-human entities such as animals, plants, and ghosts, blending their sounds with objects, machines, and flawed technologies to foster a deeper connection with the living and non-living world.
His work embodies decolonial, de-polemical, and non-competitive ideals, reflecting a nuanced relationship with instruments and materials while challenging human-centered perspectives and embracing the beauty of imperfection. Through this, Léo reimagines coexistence amid collapse, offering a haunting yet hopeful response to biodiversity loss and cultural disintegration.
Léo’s practice intertwines contemporary music, spoken forms, and multimedia elements—text, video, sound, and stage—to distort mainstream European and North American culture and respond to ecological and existential crises. He composes immersive pieces for non-human entities such as animals, plants, and ghosts, blending their sounds with objects, machines, and flawed technologies to foster a deeper connection with the living and non-living world.
His work embodies decolonial, de-polemical, and non-competitive ideals, reflecting a nuanced relationship with instruments and materials while challenging human-centered perspectives and embracing the beauty of imperfection. Through this, Léo reimagines coexistence amid collapse, offering a haunting yet hopeful response to biodiversity loss and cultural disintegration.
