Lewis Center Fellows
Britton-René Collins
Photo credit: James Hardy Photography, LLC
About
Hailed as an “Astounding Virtuoso” and “Exhilarating” performer, percussionist Britton-René Collins is a winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, receiving the Ambassador Prize for exceptional musicianship and demonstrating an active passion for creating social change through her music.
A Grand Prize winner of the 2022 Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition and the 2021 Chicago International Music Competition, Britton-René has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Canada, and Europe. She has performed with several orchestras including the Grammy Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Meridian Symphony Orchestra, the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Her 23-24 season includes performances alongside the Battle Creek Symphony, the Greenwich Village Orchestra, the Central Oregon Symphony, and the Saint Paul Civic Symphony. Her 2022-23 season included performances alongside the Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Western Piedmont Symphony, the Albany Symphony Orchestra (GA), the Marquette Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Iowa. In addition to her active solo career, Britton-René enjoys life as a chamber musician with New York City-based Excelsis Percussion Quartet. She is also the co-founder of Vision Duo alongside violinist Ariel Horowitz. As an advocate for new music, Britton-René's current projects involve generating new solo and chamber works for multi-percussion and marimba.
Britton-René’s recent highlights include attending the soundSCAPE new music composition and performance exchange in Italy, premiering a new work at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention for the second year since making her PASIC Artist debut in 2021, and participating in the Banff Centre's Evolution: Classical program. As an Artist/Endorser, Britton-René proudly performs using Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Zildjian cymbals, Marimba One instruments, and Remo drumheads.
Born in the United States, Britton-René began playing the piano at age five. She discovered percussion at eight years old and received her B.M. from the University of Toronto studying with Aiyun Huang and Beverley Johnston, where she won the UTSO Concerto Competition and performed the Canadian premiere of Sergei Golovko’s first marimba concerto alongside Maestro Uri Mayer. Britton-René received her M.M. from the University of Michigan, studying with Doug Perkins and Ian Antonio.