One of Ireland's most successful musicians, Dubliner Finghin Collins was born in 1977 and studied piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with John O'Conor and at the Geneva Conservatoire with Dominique Merlet. Winner of the RTÉ Musician of the Future Competition in 1994 and the Classical Category at the National Entertainment Awards in 1998, he went on to achieve major international success by taking first prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland in 1999. Since then he has developed a flourishing international career that takes him all over Europe, the United States and the Far East.

Collins has performed with such orchestras as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, garnering consistent praise from critics and public alike. Conductors with whom he has collaborated include Frans Brüggen, Myung-Whun Chung, Christoph Eschenbach, Hans Graf, Emmanuel Krivine, Nicholas McGegan, Gianandrea Noseda, Sakari Oramo, Tadaaki Otaka, Heinrich Schiff, Leonard Slatkin and Vassily Sinaisky.

Performances across Europe have included such prestigious venues as Symphony Hall Birmingham, Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall and Cadogan Hall, London, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (both halls), Théâtre du Châtelet and Salle Cortot Paris, Salle Molière Lyon, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Auditorio Nacional Madrid, Palao de la Musica Valencia,  Gulbenkian Hall Lisbon, Sala Verdi Milan, Konzerthaus Vienna, Philharmonic Hall Warsaw and the Auditorium Stravinski Montreux.  He has also performed at Carnegie Hall, New York and the Kennedy Center, Washington DC, as well as at both Ravinia and Gilmore Festivals in the USA. European Festival appearances include the Piano Festival at La Roque d’Anthéron  (France), Klavier-Festival Ruhr and Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (Germany), Lockenhaus Festival (Austria), Delft International Chamber Music Festival (Holland), Chopin Festival (Poland), Musical Olympus Festival (Russia), Festival de Bellerive (Switzerland), as well as the Mostly Mozart Festival (UK).

Chamber music plays a signifcant role in his musical life and he has collaborated with London Winds and the Aviv, Callino, Chilingirian, ConTempo, Ebène, Shanghai, Skampa, St Petersburg, Vanbrugh, Vertavo and Vogler String Quartets. Regular recital partners include cellists Han-Na Chang and Marc Coppey and soprano Lenneke Ruiten.

In January 2010 Collins made his solo début in the National Concert Hall's Celebrity Recital Series in Dublin.  In September 2010 he made his second appearance at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London, performing with the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda. Also in September 2010 he commenced his three-year tenure as the first ever Associate Artist with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, a position which lasts for three seasons.  During this period he will perform all twenty-three piano concertos by Mozart, the majority of them directed from the piano. Also during 2010-2011 Finghin returns to the Wigmore Hall in London, makes his début at the Printemps des Arts in Monte Carlo, and tours in Switzerland, directing the Orchestre des Jeunes de Suisse Romande. 

In 2009 Collins toured extensively in Korea with cellist Han-Na Chang and a further major tour of Korea is planned for December 2011, as well as European concerts in 2012.

Over the past decade Collins has developed a close relationship with Claves Records in Switzerland, recording two double CDs of Schumann’s piano music (winning numerous awards including Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice in 2006), and more recently recording a CD of works for piano and orchestra by Charles V. Stanford with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.

Collins is Artistic Director of the New Ross Piano Festival, which celebrated its fifth year in 2010. He acknowledges the support of The Arts Council and Music Network through the Music Capital Scheme 2008.

Reviews

"Finghin Collins has long been the most successful Irish pianist of his generation.. .In Schumann's carnivalesque Faschingsschwank aus Wien, he enabled the music to burst with explosive energy and to linger languishingly in pools of tenderness. This was definitely a carnival to celebrate."

Michael Dervan, The Irish Times, February 1st 2010

"The point was underscored by Finghin Collins's finely judged playing, his understated moodiness giving way to bags of charm and panache...."

Tim Ashley, The Guardian, September 10th 2010

"It lent a thrilling tensile quality to the dreamy opening of Schumann's Introduction and Allegro. Ravishing and tender though this was, you could feel the excitement of the ensuing Allegro waiting just around the corner. Young Irish pianist Finghin Collins was alert to the music's wayward tenderness - left and right hand conversing like lovers - and its sudden moments of triumph."

Ivan Hewett, The Daily Telegraph, September 10th 2010

"The present disc is a worthy successor, attuned to all the sudden mood shifts, arresting harmonic shifts, and rhythmic delights that Schumann composed into his early music. Pedaling is judicious and the touches are varied, so that even in sections with fastest harmonic rhythm the textures are kept unusually clear. The performance of the Abegg Variations is up with Kissin’s fine live one (on his Carnegie Hall debut), and the six whimsical Intermezzi are perfectly characterized and paced.."

Charles Timbrell, Fanfare Magazine, 2010

Sample Programmes

Bach Partita No. 2 in C minor

Schumann Six Intermezzi Op. 4

Brahms Three Intermezzi Op. 117

Schumann Faschingsschwank aus Wien Op. 26

Links

www.finghincollins.com

For further information on availability or artist fees, or to discuss a booking please contact the Performance Programmes Manager by emailing performance@musicnetwork.ie or telephone: 01 6719429.