British conductor Nicholas Collon is recognised for his elegant conducting style, searching musical intellect and inspirational music-making. He began as Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony in August 2021 – the first non-Finnish conductor ever to hold this post. From 2016–2021 he was Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in Den Haag (latterly also Artistic Advisor) and was Principal Guest of Gürzenich-Orchester from 2017–2022. Collon’s plans in Helsinki in 2023/24 include a focus on Richard Strauss, a residency with Sir George Benjamin, as well as plans to premiere an unprecedented 13 new works.

He also leads the Aurora Orchestra in their residencies at Kings Place and at the Southbank, where they have reinvented the concert format with their ‘Orchestral Theatre’ Series. Together they appear regularly at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Cologne Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and festivals such as Bremen, Rheingau, Schleswig Holstein, Gstaad, and the BBC Proms where they perform every year in their hugely popular memorised performances.