Biography

He studied piano (jazz and improvisation) at the Conservatory of Utrecht (NL) with Bert van den Brink, Cor Bakker, and Jeroen van Vliet. Colijn followed masterclasses with a.o. Louis van Dijk, Barry Harris, Fred Hersch, Brad Mehldau, Enrico Pieranunzi, John Taylor, Kenny Werner, and a week with Clare Fischer in Los Angeles.

The Colijn Buis Trio played during the weekly ‘’Utrecht LIVE Jam Session at Cees Place’’ (The Netherlands) for 7 years, with Special Guests like: John Engels, Benjamin Herman, Thijs van Leer, Hans Dulfer, Denise Jannah, Jesse van Ruller – and many other great musicians from the Dutch and international pop-, latin- and jazzscene. Next to that, Colijn performed at festivals, events, private and business parties, conferences, in theatres and restaurants.

Next to that he performs as a duo together with flute player/composer Thijs van Leer (Focus) and singer Denise Jannah, and with many other line-ups. Colijn also worked with a large variety of choirs – like the Nationaal Youth Choir, and the international Youth Choir ‘Choeur Robert Schuman’ in Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

As a composer Colijn won a.o. the Kunstanjer of the Prince Bernhard Culture Foundation. Of his debut album ‘Horizon’ (original compositions performed together with Jasper van Hulten, Sven Happel, Tom Beek and Thijs van Leer) are over 2500 CDs sold, and Colijn’s music has been used in films and national TV.

His music has been performed in Albania, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Egypt, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Serbia and the United States.

He arranged the Mass ‘Dona Nobis Pacem’ composed by Thijs van Leer for choir; this premiered in the Cathedral of Reims (FR) and was performed in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Colijn taught at the Conservatory of Utrecht, SJU Jazzpodium, international masterclasses from Italy and Albania to Nicaragua, and also in-company and private lessons and workshops – for current courses, lessons and other learning opportunities see Coaching.