British clarinettist Michael Collins is one of the most successful and sought-after wind players of his generation. 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, Helsinki Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, BBC Symphony, Philharmonia and English Chamber Orchestras, with conductors such as Rattle, Dutoit, Sinopoli, Salonen, Slatkin, Marriner and Otaka.

Notable recent appearances have included the Californian première of John Adams' Clarinet Concerto Gnarly Buttons with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by the composer (and which was written for him), a performance of Mozart's Basset Clarinet Concerto with the Mozarteum Orchestra under Trevor Pinnock at the Salzburg Mozartwoche Festival and the UK and Dutch premières of Elliott Carter's Clarinet Concerto. Over the next two seasons he undertakes a major tour to Australia and appears as a soloist with the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra with Joseph Swensen and the Philharmonia with Sir Roger Norrington. Michael Collins has just completed a highly successful week as International Artist in Residence for the 2001 Bath International Festival.

Michael Collins is also in demand as a chamber musician, working with artists such as Martha Argerich, Mikhail Pletnev, Joshua Bell, Lars Vogt, Truls Mork, Isabelle van Keulen. In 1988 he founded London Winds who have since appeared regularly throughout the UK and at many international festivals, including BBC Proms, Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, City of London, Delft and Newport Rhode Island. They premièred a new Octet by Robin Holloway at the 2001 Celtenham 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. Michael's most recent 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 in June 2000 to great critical acclaim.