Press Release Feb 7, 2023
Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) since autumn 2021, Nicholas Collon is to continue his term until summer 2028. The aim of the new contract beginning in autumn 2024 is sustained collaboration. The FRSO musicians were unanimous in their decision to invite Collon to become the orchestra’s Chief Conductor and equally so about renewing his contract. “We are really excited that the collaboration with Nicholas Collon will continue after such an auspicious start,” says orchestra spokesman Miikka Saarinen.
Celebrating his 40th birthday today, February 7, Collon is likewise pleased that his contract is to be renewed.
“I could not be more delighted to be renewing my contract with the Finnish Radio SO until 2028. I’m having the most wonderful time conducting this exceptional group of musicians, who I am now happy to count as friends and colleagues. It is a great privilege to be able to plan so many diverse, thrilling programmes, knowing that we also have the confidence and trust of the audience in the Helsinki Music Centre, and those watching and listening around the whole of Finland and internationally. I look forward to making music with all these players, and to planning many exciting seasons in the future.”
According to FRSO General Manager Tuula Sarotie, Nicholas Collon has, even during the short time he has been with the orchestra, created a climate in which the way conductor and orchestra inspire each other is ideal. “Collon has at the same time brought with him a breath of fresh, foreign air – take our internationally-acclaimed guest concerts and recordings, for example.”
Outside Finland, the FRSO and Collon have played to full houses at the BBC Proms in London and on a German tour taking in Nuremberg, Regensburg and Wiesbaden. The prestigious Gramophone magazine voted an FRSO album of music by Sibelius one of the best releases of 2022. The leading Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat also gave the album five stars, and the disc of music by Thomas Adès was nominated for an International Classical Music Award.
From the day he began as Chief Conductor of the FRSO, Nicholas Collon has, according to Yle CEO Merja Ylä-Anttila, established an operational mode that vibrantly implements Yle’s cultural mission. “He serves a highly varied menu of orchestral music on the Yle channels, and Finnish music has gained a passionate interpreter in him. I can look ahead with confidence, knowing that our audiences will, in a few years’ time, be able to celebrate the centenary of a regenerative, buoyant FRSO under the baton of Nicholas Collon.”
Collon will next be conducting the FRSO at 7 pm EET on Friday, February 10, in a programme of music by all the season’s theme composers, Outi Tarkiainen, György Ligeti and Sergei Rachmaninov. The soloist will be violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. The concert at the Helsinki Music Centre will be broadcast live worldwide for free on the Yle Areena web service.