Biography
Having secured multiple prominent awards at home and overseas, pianist Finghin Collins has built a worldwide performance schedule that spans concertos, chamber music, and solo repertoire while remaining deeply engaged in Ireland’s musical life. His expanding discography has centered on Romantic-period works and compositions by Irish creators, including a 2024 collaboration with singers Benjamin Russell and Sharon Carty on a recording of Charles Villiers Stanford’s Irish song cycles.
Collins was born on March 31, 1977, in Dublin. Although his parents were not musicians, he and his three older siblings all pursued music intensively. Piano study began at age three with his sister Mary, followed by admission to the Royal Irish Academy of Music at six; he continued there until age 22 under John O’Conor. Early recognition came with victory at the 1994 RTÉ Musician of the Future Competition in Dublin. He then reached the semi-finals of the 1996 Leeds International Piano Competition, the 1997 Guardian Dublin International Piano Competition, and the 1998 Classical Category of Ireland’s National Entertainment Awards. A setback occurred at Spain’s Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition in 1998, yet this was offset by his win at Switzerland’s Clara Haskil International Piano Competition the following year. In 1999 he earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance from Dublin City University and then enrolled at the Geneva Conservatoire for lessons with Dominique Merlet, receiving a first prize with distinction in 2002. His recording debut appeared that same year on the Vienna Modern Masters label as a contributor to Music from Six Continents: 2000 Series.
An international career followed, bringing appearances with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, the Seoul Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony under conductors including Sakari Oramo, Leonard Slatkin, and Frans Brüggen. Collins issued his first solo album, Impromptu, a collection of popular Classical works, on the RTÉ Lyric FM label in 2005. He founded Wexford’s New Ross Piano Festival in 2006 and has served as its artistic director since inception. That year he began a recording relationship with the Claves label, launching a survey of Schumann’s complete piano works whose first volume earned an Editor’s Choice from Gramophone Magazine; although no second volume was produced, a third appeared in 2009. The next year he turned to the music of Dublin-born composer Charles Villiers Stanford, performing the Piano Concerto No. 2 and Variations on “Down among the Dead Men” with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra under Kenneth Montgomery. In 2013 he was appointed artistic director of the Music for Galway organization at the University of Galway.
Recordings devoted to Mozart, Chopin, and Schubert appeared through the 2010s and into the 2020s, and he was named artistic director of the Dublin International Piano Competition in 2023. The following year Collins again collaborated with mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty and baritone Benjamin Russell on a Somm Recordings release of Stanford’s Irish song cycles.
Collins was born on March 31, 1977, in Dublin. Although his parents were not musicians, he and his three older siblings all pursued music intensively. Piano study began at age three with his sister Mary, followed by admission to the Royal Irish Academy of Music at six; he continued there until age 22 under John O’Conor. Early recognition came with victory at the 1994 RTÉ Musician of the Future Competition in Dublin. He then reached the semi-finals of the 1996 Leeds International Piano Competition, the 1997 Guardian Dublin International Piano Competition, and the 1998 Classical Category of Ireland’s National Entertainment Awards. A setback occurred at Spain’s Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition in 1998, yet this was offset by his win at Switzerland’s Clara Haskil International Piano Competition the following year. In 1999 he earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance from Dublin City University and then enrolled at the Geneva Conservatoire for lessons with Dominique Merlet, receiving a first prize with distinction in 2002. His recording debut appeared that same year on the Vienna Modern Masters label as a contributor to Music from Six Continents: 2000 Series.
An international career followed, bringing appearances with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, the Seoul Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony under conductors including Sakari Oramo, Leonard Slatkin, and Frans Brüggen. Collins issued his first solo album, Impromptu, a collection of popular Classical works, on the RTÉ Lyric FM label in 2005. He founded Wexford’s New Ross Piano Festival in 2006 and has served as its artistic director since inception. That year he began a recording relationship with the Claves label, launching a survey of Schumann’s complete piano works whose first volume earned an Editor’s Choice from Gramophone Magazine; although no second volume was produced, a third appeared in 2009. The next year he turned to the music of Dublin-born composer Charles Villiers Stanford, performing the Piano Concerto No. 2 and Variations on “Down among the Dead Men” with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra under Kenneth Montgomery. In 2013 he was appointed artistic director of the Music for Galway organization at the University of Galway.
Recordings devoted to Mozart, Chopin, and Schubert appeared through the 2010s and into the 2020s, and he was named artistic director of the Dublin International Piano Competition in 2023. The following year Collins again collaborated with mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty and baritone Benjamin Russell on a Somm Recordings release of Stanford’s Irish song cycles.
Albums
Hommage à Pleyel
2025
The bright day is done
2022
Mozart: Piano Quartets
2020
Chopin Recital
2017
Mozart: Piano Concertos
2013
Impromptu
2012
Schumann: The Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 3
2010
Schumann: The Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 1
2006
Singles
