Lena Collin

About Lena Collin

Lena Collin is a pianist, singer and songwriter.
During her early childhood, her father often played recordings of the great classical composers such as Mozart and Beethoven, as well as pop/rock music from the 60s, 70s and 80s. So she grew up in a musical environment.
At seven she began taking piano lessons. Quite early, she showed an unusual precocious talent for composing her own little piano pieces. Already at the age of 8 she began improvisation classes, and so she initiated in this way parallel studies of classical repertoire and a personal exploration of the possibilities of the keyboard.
As a teenager, Lena took part in several piano competitions and was awarded several prizes.
At the age of 18 she became a student at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in the classical section. However, her interest for improvisation and composition continued to increase, especially with the discovery of a whole new musical world, full of rich harmonies and melodies, the world of jazz. Unable to choose between classical and jazz, her sensibility being touched equally, she continued her studies in classical piano, obtaining a Master’s degree.
During the summer holidays she would devote her free time taking jazz lessons.
At around the age of twenty, Lena began composing songs for piano and voice, fusing these various influences together in her own personal style.
In 2000 she was discovered by a record producer and subsequently recorded an album made up entirely of her compositions under the label Edelmusic. The album was entitled « Rebirth » but unfortunately was never released.
Following her classical degree, she pursued her studies of jazz (especially vocals but also piano) for two years.
During this period, she gave many performances of her songs at various venues, mainly in Brussels.
In 2004, she was asked by the composer of electronic music Owen Replay to record an album with him, writing lyrics and singing on his music. Lena agreed, even though at first she wasn’t very comfortable with this type of music. The album (Collin/Replay - « Save your soul ») is available for download on iTunes, and contains also two of Lena Collin’s compositions : « Queen of sadness » and « Butterfly » (official website : (expired link)).
At 25, Lena had a strong spiritual experience, that would prove to be a major turning point in her life. Completely overthrown by God’s grace and love, she felt the need to plunge into prayer and Bible study.
She read many of the great mystical writers, especially carmelite saints such as St John of the Cross, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, as well as the writings of the Swiss priest and theologian Maurice Zundel.
Not long after these experiences, prayer and music came together and Lena began to compose new songs with a spiritual color .
But little by little , her health seemed to deteriorate , and in 2009 she was diagnosed with a debilitating neuro muscular disease. I twas the beginning of a very hard struggle with pain and constant weakness .
During this period, Lena held on to her fait hand kept praying and composing.
Finally, in 2012, she felt strong enough to record a brand new album , entitled « Dawn », that is finally released on the web (iTunes, ...).
The fight is not over, but Lena’s great hope is to be able to climb on stage again, and that all she has been through will be an enrichment to her music and a source of peace and comfort for the world.