André Laporte studied organ with Edgard de Laet and Flor Peeters, and piano, counterpoint and fugue wit Martinus De Jong, both in Mechelen. In the 1950s he also studied philosophy and musicology. At the same time, he gave music education and aesthetics in Brussels and composed his first works – folksong arrangements, a piano sonata and organ music.

Participating at the Internationale Ferienkurse in Darmstadt (DE) and the Kurse für Neue Musik in Cologne (DE) in the beginning of the 1960s introduced Laporte to the music of Boulez, Maderna, Berio, Ligeti, Stockhausen, Kagel and Gielen, which had an influence on his compositions. He gradually achieved an identifiable expressive-narrative music style. Laporte combines a traditional instrumentation with contemporary playing techniques and effects.