Chief Conductor, Finnish Radio Symphony
Founder and Principal Conductor, Aurora Orchestra
British conductor Nicholas Collon is recognized for his elegant conducting style, searching musical intellect and inspirational music-making. He is Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony (the first non-Finnish conductor ever to hold this post), Founder and Principal Conductor of the Aurora Orchestra; he will tour Europe with both orchestras in the 23/24 season. From 2016-2021 he was Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in Den Haag (latterly also Artistic Advisor) and was Principal Guest of Gürzenich-Orchester from 2017-2022.
Collon’s plans in Helsinki in 23/24 include a focus on Richard Strauss, a residency with Sir George Benjamin, as well as plans to premiere an unprecedented 13 new works. He also leads the Aurora Orchestra in their residencies at Kings Place and at the Southbank, where they have reinvented the concert format with their ‘Orchestral Theatre’ Series. Together they appear regularly at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Cologne Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and festivals such as Bremen, Rheingau, Schleswig Holstein, Gstaad, and the BBC Proms where they perform every year in their hugely popular memorized performances.
Collon returns this season to conduct the Orchestre National de France, Dresden Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Danish National Symphony Orchestra. He will also conduct the Barcelona Symphony and will make his debut with the Munich Philharmonic in 2024 and WDR Symphony Orchestra in 2025.
Collon has conducted over 250 new works, including the UK or world premieres of works by Unsuk Chin, Brett Dean, Phillip Glass, Colin Matthews, Anna Meredith, Nico Muhly, Olivier Messiaen, Krzysztof Penderecki, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Judith Weir, and Du Yun. He is a regular guest of the Bamberg Symphony and BBC Philharmonic orchestras, the latter of whom he will conduct at the 2024 BBC Proms, and has also conducted DSO Berlin, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Minnesota Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony and Chamber Orchestra of Europe amongst many others.
His first CD release with the Finnish Radio Symphony in Spring 2022 (Sibelius on Ondine) received 5-star reviews in Finland and internationally; in Autumn 2022 they released a CD of works by Thomas Adès which won a Diapason d’Or, and they have since released two further CDs of works by Wennäkoski and Bacewicz. Past recordings have included discs for Deutsche Grammophon and Warner with the Aurora Orchestra, with whom he won the Echo Klassik Award for ‘Klassik Ohne Grenzen’ in 2015; and discs with the Danish Radio Symphony, Philharmonia and Hallé orchestras.
Collon has conducted opera extensively, including at Glyndebourne, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Oper Koeln and at the Aldeburgh Festival. Born in London, Nicholas is a violist, pianist and organist by training, and studied as Organ Scholar at Clare College, Cambridge.
Intermusica represents Nicholas Collon Worldwide
2023/24 season / as of 11 Sept 2023. 447 words. Not to be altered without permission.