Michael Collins Clarinet
“...Collins dazzles like a bel canto diva in the pyrotechnic leaps, trills and runs, while he lavishes his rich tone, phenomenal breath control and deeply satisfying expressive insights on the E minor (Spohr)...” (Sunday Times)
Michael Collins' dazzling virtuosity and sensitive musicianship have made him one of today's most sought-after soloists. At 16 he won the woodwind prize in the first BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and at 22 made his American début at Carnegie Hall, New York. Since then he has performed as a soloist with many of the world’s major orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, NHK Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus, City of Birmingham Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, BBC Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestra. Since his first performance at the BBC Proms, Mr. Collins has returned to the festival more often than any other wind soloist, including several appearances at the renowned Last Night of the Proms. As a chamber musician, he has a long standing relationship with Wigmore Hall, having enjoyed many residencies at the prestigious London venue, the next being in 2010/11.
Indisputably one of the leading clarinettists of his generation, Mr. Collins has formed close alliances with conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Carlo Maria Giulini, Neeme Järvi, Tadaaki Otaka, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Leonard Slatkin and Mikhail Pletnev.
Mr. Collins has appeared often with many of the worlds leading chamber orchestras, including the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the City of London Sinfonia, with whom he has developed a particularly close relationship. Building on his long-established role as soloist with these orchestras, in recent years Mr. Collins has begun to work with them increasingly as director and conductor, something that has become central to his career. His successes with London Mozart Players, City of London Sinfonia, BBC Scottish Symphony and Johannesburg Philharmonic are testament to the persuasive musicianship and galvanizing leadership that is evident in his conducting.
Mr. Collins is a recent recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist of the Year Award, placing him amongst past recipients of the award who include Itzhak Perlman, Mitsuko Uchida, Murray Perahia and Andras Schiff. The award was made in recognition of the pivotal role that he has played in expanding the clarinet repertoire, commissioning and premiering repertoire by some of today’s most highly regarded composers. He has given world and local premieres of works such as John Adams’ Gnarly Buttons (world premiere with the London Sinfonietta), Elliott Carter’s Clarinet Concerto (UK and Dutch premiere), Brett Dean’s Ariel’s Music (German premiere with Deutsche Sinfonieorchester Berlin and the UK premiere with the BBC Symphony Orchestra) and Turnage’s Riffs and Refrains. Commissioned for him by the Hallé Orchestra, Mr. Collins has given further performances of the Turnage with the Residentie Orkest, Royal Flanders Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Malmo Symphony and London Philharmonic. Last season, he gave the world premiere of Elena Kats-Chernin’s clarinet concerto Ornamental Air with the North Carolina Symphony and, subsequently, with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia and Tasmanian Symphony.
Mr. Collins’ current diary includes engagements with the Orchestra della Radiotelevisione Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, Bournemouth Symphony, Tampere Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony and a number of performances with the City of London Sinfonia. In 2009 he appeared at New York’s Mostly Mozart festival as part of an Adams focus to perform the concerto Gnarly Buttons with the composer conducting, and also gave performances in the festival marking the opening of the Melbourne Concert Hall. He will return to Australasia at the end of the year for engagements with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony and Auckland Philharmonia.
Also in great demand as a chamber musician, Mr. Collins regularly performs in recital with Leon McCawley and Steven Osborne, and in chamber ensembles with artists such as the Belcea and Takacs quartets, Martha Argerich, Stephen Hough, Mikhail Pletnev, Lars Vogt, Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis. His ensemble, London Winds, celebrated its twentieth anniversary last season and, with entirely unchanged membership over those two decades, continues to enjoy a busy diary with recent high calibre engagements such as the BBC Proms, Aldeburgh Festival, Edinburgh Festival, City of London Festival, Cheltenham International Festival and Bath Mozartfest. Engagements in 2009/10 include performances at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall and the beautiful Schloss Elmau, near Munich. In a recent development in London Winds’ diary, the quintet has established collaborations with the Scottish Ensemble and the young professional orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia.
Michael Collins’ many recordings include John Adams’ Gnarly Buttons with the London Sinfonietta, conducted by the composer, a London Winds Ligeti disc for Sony Classical (nominated for a Grammy award in 1999), a disc of Brahms, Schumann and Frühling clarinet trios with Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough for BMG and a Gramophone Award winning recording of Elliott Carter’s Clarinet Concerto, with the London Sinfonietta and Oliver Knussen for Deutsche Grammophon. His recording of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (arranged for clarinet by Mikhail Pletnev) coupled with Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with the Russian National Orchestra and Pletnev was released by Deutsche Grammophon to great critical acclaim. London Winds’ most recent release is the first recording in a new partnership with the label Onyx, in which they marked the 2006 Mozart 250th anniversary year with a disc of Mozart wind serenades.
"…A class act. A classy disc…" Editor's Choice, Gramophone Magazine
