About this Artist

Finnish-British conductor Ross Jamie Collins is part of the inaugural class of Salonen Fellows in the Negaunee Conducting Program at the Colburn Conservatory of Music. Collins was a student of Jorma Panula at the Panula Academy in Finland and began his studies with Esa-Pekka Salonen at Colburn in 2019.  

Born in Nottingham, England, Collins moved to Helsinki, Finland, where he began conducting studies at the age of 14 with Klaus Mäkelä. In 2017, he founded his own orchestra, Symphony Orchestra ROSSO. He was a laureate of the VII International Jorma Panula Conducting Competition in 2018. 

Highlights of the 2022/23 season included debuts with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony’s SoundBox series, a return to conduct the Turku Philharmonic after his debut in December 2021 and performances at Colburn. He assisted Salonen, pianist Yuja Wang and violinist Johan Dalene on a European tour with the San Francisco Symphony and assisted conductors Courtney Lewis and Simone Menezes with the Colburn Orchestra. 

Collins has conducted the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, Vaasa City Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia, MÁV Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra, Lappeenranta City Orchestra, South Denmark Philharmonic, Kirkkonummi Chamber Orchestra, St. Michel Strings, The Camerata Antonio Soler, the Colburn Orchestra and Academy Virtuosi. 

He has worked alongside Sir Andrew Davis, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Edo de Waart, James Conlon, Ludovic Morlot, Rossen Milanov, Peter Oundjian, Peter Sellars, Grant Gershon, Yehuda Gilad, Yuja Wang and Ray Chen. As a student of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Collins has assisted him with the Philharmonia Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony. He is currently on the conducting staff of the San Francisco Symphony,  participated in the London Philharmonia’s Emerging Artists program and is a Colburn Artist.