Willy Fransen was born on March 8, 1946 in Genk. At the age of 10 he joined the Royal Musical Circle of Winterslag as a trumpet player and a few years later also took his place with the amateur Symphony Orchestra. He studied music at the Stedelijk Muziekconservatorium in Hasselt where he became a trumpet laureate. Higher music studies were started at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerp and concluded with the pedagogical diploma A.M.V. and harmony.
In the meantime, he had set his sights on conducting and started lighting up in the Netherlands with Jan Cober, Arnold D. Gabriël (U.S.A.) and Eugeen Coperon (U.S.A.). His first wind orchestra became the Royal Harmony of Peer, which he expanded with his own musicians from the 3rd division to the 1st division at the World Music Competition of Kerkrade, resulting in a great result (342/360). He also achieved great results with other orchestras at various competitions. He also conducted the Youth Orchestra Salvatorcollege Hamont (1971 – 1973), Jeugdorkest Middenschool Beringen (1973 – 1978), Koninklijke Harmonie Vriendenkring Oostham (1975 – 1998), Koninklijke Harmonie van Genk (1989 – 1992) and Koninklijke Harmonie St. Jozef Kaulille from August 2000. Since 1969 he has been enthusiastically affiliated with the North Limburg Academy of Music and Word as a teacher A.M.V. and is a music consultant at various federations. Willy Fransen is also regularly active as a production manager and conductor in musical productions. In recent years he has also emerged as an arranger and composer for hafabra and choral works. Many of his works have already been recorded on 15 CDs