Michael Collins
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, NHK Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus, City of Birmingham Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, BBC Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestra. Indisputably one of the leading clarinettists of his generation, Michael has formed close alliances with conductors such as Rattle, Dutoit, Sinopoli, Salonen, Slatkin and Otaka. In May 2007 he won 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.
Michael Collins has done much to expand the clarinet repertoire, commissioning and premiering repertoire by some of today's most highly regarded composers. Such performances have included the world premiere of John Adams' Clarinet Concerto Gnarly Buttons with the London Sinfonietta conducted by the composer and since performed many times. He has also given the UK and Dutch premières of Elliott Carter's Clarinet Concerto and Mark Anthony Turnage wrote his concerto Riffs and Refrains for him. Commissioned by the Hallé Orchestra and premiered in February 2005, Collins now has the Dutch and Scandinavian premieres scheduled for 2007/8 with the Residentie Orkest and Helsinki Philharmonic respectively. Following the world premiere of Erkki-Sven Tüür's Double Concerto for Violin and Clarinet Noesis with the Detroit Symphony and Neeme Järvi in June 2005, Michael Collins and Isabelle van Keulen (the work's dedicatees) have given subsequent performances of the concerto with the Philharmonia under Paavo Järvi, the Helsinki Philharmonic under Hugh Wolff, the MDR Leipzig under John Storgårds and the Netherlands Philharmonic under Claus Peter Flor.
Michael Collins is also in demand as a chamber musician, regularly performing with the Belcea Quartet, Martha Argerich, Stephen Hough, Mikhail Pletnev, Lars Vogt, Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis. In 1988 he founded London Winds who have since appeared regularly throughout the UK and at many international festivals, including the BBC Proms, Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, City of London, Cheltenham Festival, Bath Mozartfest, Leif Ove Andsnes' Risor Chamber Music Festival in Norway and the Delft Festival.
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) and a disc of Brahms, Schumann and Frühling clarinet trios with Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough for BMG. 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 anniversary year with a disc of Mozart wind serenades.
Michael's recording of the third and fourth clarinet concertos by Louis Spohr, with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, has now been released on the Hyperion label. It is the long-awaited sequel to his recording of the first two Spohr Concertos. Both recordings were made on his Peter Eaton International clarinets.
"Collins completes his recordings of these delightful concertos with the contrasting works presented here. 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." (Sunday Times)
"This oustanding disc is the counterpart of Michael Collins's coupling of Spohr's first two Clarinet Concertos with the same forces. It is thanks to Collins's artistry that relatively prosaic ideas are transformed, with magical echo effects, subtle pointing of rhythm to make the music sparkle in shaping of phrases that is magnetic. An exceptionally attractive disc." (Gramophone)
"Michael Collins repeats the success of his disc of Nos 1 and 2 with elegantly phrased melodies, immaculate passagework and wondurously even trills. The Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Robin O'Neill again provide alert support, and the recording is outstanding, with a pleasant sense of intimacy embracing wind, strings and soloist." (BBC Music Magazine)
"Michael Collins brings off the more spectacular passages with stylish relish. He's even better in the long, lyrical lines of the slow movement - a lovely Adagio that has real expressive intensity here, thanks to the quiet eloquence and subtle shading of Collins and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra in this performance." (International Record Review)
Michael changed to Peter Eaton International model clarinets in 2001. "The sound is so very warm and even in quality. I don't have to think about tuning but just play through the middle, which means that I can concentrate on playing the music rather than the clarinet".
In 2005 we completed a new bassett clarinet for Michael, which we made especially for him in conjunction with that wonderful craftsman Tony Ward. He gave eighteen performances of the Mozart Concerto on this instrument in January 2006, in England, Germany and Holland, and will make a new recording of the work in the near future.
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