British conductor Nicholas Collon is recognized for his elegant conducting style, searching musical intellect and inspirational music-making. He is Founder and Principal Conductor of Aurora Orchestra and has been Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony since 2021 (renewed until 2028). He was Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in Den Haag (latterly also Artistic Advisor) 2016–2021, and was Principal Guest of the Gürzenich Orchester from 2017–2022.

Collon leads Aurora Orchestra at the BBC Proms every year in their hugely popular memorised performances, this year Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (televised). Aurora are Resident at Kings Place and at the Southbank Centre where they have reinvented the concert format with their »Orchestral Theatre« Series. This season they appear for the first time at the Berlin Philharmonie and Frankfurt Oper. They follow invitations to festivals such as Bremen, Rheingau and Schleswig Holstein, as well as a tour of Switzerland. They have recorded for Warner, winning the Echo Klassik Award for »Klassik Ohne Grenzen« in 2015, and latterly for Deutsche Grammophon.

Collon debuted with the Dresden Staatskapelle in Spring 2024, and in 2024/25 makes his first appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, Munich Philharmonic and WDR Symphony. He regularly conducts orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Orchestre National de France, and hr Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and has also guested with London Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Vienna Radio Symphony, and Chamber Orchestra of Europe among many others.

Collon has conducted over 250 new works, including the UK or world premieres of works by Unsuk Chin, Brett Dean, Phillip Glass, Magnus Lindberg, Olivier Messiaen, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Mark-Anthony Turnage.

Born in London, Nicholas Collon is a violist, pianist and organist by training, and studied as Organ Scholar at Clare College, Cambridge.