Bio
Finnish-British conductor Ross Jamie Collins is a part of the inaugural class of Salonen Fellows in the Negaunee Conducting Program at the Colburn Conservatory of Music.
Described as “a force to be reckoned with,” (Lark Reviews, UK), Ross was formerly a student of Jorma Panula at the Panula Academy in Finland and began his studies with Esa-Pekka Salonen at Colburn in the fall of 2019. Born in 2001 in Nottingham, United Kingdom, Ross has been living in Helsinki, Finland since 2008 where he began conducting studies at the age of 14 with Klaus Mäkelä. In 2017 he founded his own orchestra, named Symphony Orchestra ROSSO, and conducted a full symphony concert at the age of 15. He was awarded Third Prize in the VII International Jorma Panula Conducting Competition in 2018.
Highlights of the 2022-23 season include debuts with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony’s SoundBox series, curated by pianist Conrad Tao; a reinvite to conduct the Turku Philharmonic after a successful debut in December 2021; an outreach concerts series with Colburn’s Zipper Orchestra; 2 brass ensemble concerts, curated by hornist Andrew Bain; and chamber orchestra performances of Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 and Weinberg's Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra at Colburn. He will be assisting maestro Salonen, pianist Yuja Wang and violinist Johan Dalene on a European tour with the San Francisco Symphony, and will be assisting conductors Courtney Lewis and Simone Menezes with the Colburn Orchestra. Recently, Ross made his conducting debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra, alongside violinist Randall Goosby in music of Mendelssohn, Nielsen and Sibelius. In 2021, he made his debut with the Turku Philharmonic, Finland’s oldest orchestra, where he led them in score of the classic British animated film The Snowman. In 2019 he made his debuts with the South Denmark Philharmonic and the Kirkkonummi Chamber Orchestra.
Supported by a scholarship from The Finnish Cultural Foundation, Ross has participated in numerous international conducting master classes. He has had the opportunity to conduct the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, Vaasa City Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia, MAV Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra, Lappeenranta City Orchestra, St. Michel Strings and The Camerata Antonio Soler. Ross is the former assistant conductor of the Lauttasaari Symphony Orchestra.
Ross has worked closely alongside Sir Andrew Davis, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Edo de Waart, James Conlon, Ludovic Morlot, Rossen Milanov, Peter Oundjian, Peter Sellars, Grant Gershon, Yehuda Gilad and Ray Chen and has conducted both the Colburn Orchestra and Academy Virtuosi. As a student of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ross has assisted Mr. Salonen with the Philharmonia, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony. Ross is currently on the Conducting Staff of the San Francisco Symphony, is a part of the London Philharmonia’s Emerging Artists program and is a Colburn Artist.