“Whenever I approach a Marimba One instrument, I feel secure knowing that, as an artist, I will have guaranteed control over my sound production on beautiful, thoughtfully crafted, high-quality instruments.”
Britton-René Collins
Toronto-based percussionist Britton-René Collins finds passion in the art of contemporary percussion performance. A winner of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, Britton-René has dedicated her artistry to shaping a more diverse and inclusive community for all musicians to thrive in equally. She was awarded the Ambassador Prize for exceptional musicianship and demonstrating an active commitment to creating social change through her music. She recently launched a blog in which she discusses her experiences in facing various challenges as a minority musician.
Britton-René enjoys arranging classical works for solo marimba and small instrumental ensembles, and she is also passionate about contributing to the growth of modern percussion repertoire. Her current projects include composing and commissioning new works for multi-percussion and marimba. Through a combination of spoken word and non-traditional percussion instrumentation, her compositions address various socio-political topics that are both relevant and insufficiently discussed in modern society.
Born in the United States, Britton-René began her instrumental training at the age of five. She has since received several scholarship awards and is currently completing her Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music (2017-2021) under the tutelage of Aiyun Huang, Beverley Johnston, and John Rudolph. Britton-René is a Marimba One artist.
Recent highlights include attending the soundSCAPE new music composition and performance exchange in Italy, receiving an Avedis Zildjian Percussion Scholarship, and being selected to appear as a soloist in concerto performances with symphony orchestras in the United States and Canada.