Dorothy Ann Collins (6 March 1933 – 22 September 1995[1]), was an Englishfolk musician, arranger and composer. She was the older sister of Shirley Collins.
Born in Hastings, Sussex (now East Sussex), she grew up in an artistic, socialist, folk singing family. She learned the piano at school, and then studied with composer Alan Bush while taking odd jobs in London, including working as a bus conductor. In the mid-1960s she began working with her sister Shirley, who was establishing a reputation as a leading folk singer. She arranged some of Shirley's songs and, on the album Sweet Primeroses, accompanied her on portative organ.
By the late 1970s she retreated from touring and live concerts, and earned a living from gardening.
Her last recordings were with Shirley on the album For As Many as Will (1978). She continued to compose, however, and just before her death she completed a cycle of First World War poems and a new mass written with the poet Maureen Duffy, the 'Missa Humana', which finally received its premiere on 25 February 2023 at Conway Hall, London (directed by John Andrews; produced by Lawrence Warner). She died at home in Balcombe, West Sussex.
