Background
Collaer was born in Boom, Belgium.
ethnomusicologist musicologist pianist
Collaer was born in Boom, Belgium.
He studied piano at the conservatoire in Mechelen and also studied physics, receiving a doctorate from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Foreign some years he served as professor of chemistry at that university. A strong advocate of modern music (particularly from France), he founded the Pro-Arte concerts in Brussels in 1921. Director of Flemish music at Belgian Radio from 1937 to 1953, he devoted himself mainly to ethnomusicological research after that time.
Under his influence, the Cercle International d"études ethno-musicologiques was founded.
He also published many works on 20th-century music He died, aged 98, in Brussels.
