Nicholas Collon
Conductor
British conductor Nicholas Collon is recognized for his elegant conducting style, searching musical intellect and inspirational music-making. He is Founder and Principal Conductor of Aurora Orchestra and has been Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony since 2021 (renewed until 2028). He was Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in Den Haag (latterly also Artistic Advisor) 2016-2021, and was Principal Guest of the Gürzenich Orchester from 2017-2022.
With the Finnish Radio Symphony he has toured to the BBC Proms, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and to Germany and Estonia. Their expanding discography together for Ondine includes acclaimed discs of Sibelius, Lutosławski, Adès and Wennäkoski (winning the 2023 Gramophone Award for Best Contemporary Recording), with Richard Strauss, Elgar, Holst, and more Sibelius to come. Their 2024/25 concert season includes Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie and Stravinsky’s Sacre du Printemps as part of a Paris theme, and works by Finnish-American composer Lara Poe. Every concert is broadcast live on Finnish National TV.
Collon leads Aurora Orchestra at the BBC Proms every year in their hugely popular memorised performances, this year Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, televised live. Aurora are Resident at Kings Place and at the Southbank Centre where they have reinvented the concert format with their ‘Orchestral Theatre’ Series. This season they tour to major German cities, and continue to appear regularly at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Cologne Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and festivals such as Bremen, Rheingau, Schleswig Holstein and Gstaad. They have recorded for Warner, winning the Echo Klassik Award for ‘Klassik Ohne Grenzen’ in 2015, and latterly for Deutsche Grammophon.
Collon debuted with the Dresden Staatskapelle in Spring 2024, and in 24/25 makes his first appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, Munich Philharmonic and WDR Symphony, and returns to the DSO Berlin. He regularly conducts orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic (appearing at the BBC Proms with them in his second televised Prom this year), City of Birmingham Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Danish National Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Dresden Philharmonic, and has also guested with Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Minnesota Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Vienna Radio Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, and Chamber Orchestra of Europe among many others.
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. Opera productions have included Peter Grimes and Don Giovanni for Oper Koeln, Magic Flute at English National Opera, Jonathan Harvey’s Wagner Dream at Welsh National Opera, Rape of Lucretia for Glyndebourne Touring Opera, and Turn of the Screw at the Aldeburgh Festival with Aurora Orchestra. 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.
Aurora Memory
An impossible task as there are so many to choose from! Here’s a top 5 in no particular order:
- BBC Proms 2014 – what an extraordinary feeling coming off stage after the whole orchestra had memorised Mozart’s 40th symphony; a first for any professional orchestra.
- The well-worn story of when our percussionist knocked over his entire percussion set-up in the middle of a new piece, mid-concert, nearly decapitating our bassoonist, and reducing most other players to tears.
- April 2005 – I will always remember the feeling of pride as I listened to the first notes these wonderful musicians ever played in concert, Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 1.
- Aurora’s ‘Thriller’ project pushed so many boundaries – never before (and possibly never again) had I been carried around on the shoulders of six players.
- The ‘Horrible Histories’ Prom of 2012 was an extraordinary moment – the genuine feeling that we had probably given thousands (and millions on TV at home) teenagers their first glimpse into the excitement of orchestral music.
Mozart 40 from memory: Aurora Orchestra at the BBC Proms
As part of its performance at the BBC Proms in August 2014, Aurora Orchestra performed Mozart's Symphony No. 40 from memory under the direction of Principal Conductor Nicholas Collon. Footage used by kind permission of the BBC.