The Ulster Orchestra is delighted to announce its 2025/26 Concert Season with the news of an exciting new partnership with Michael Collins. For the next three Seasons, Michael takes on the role of Principal Guest Artist and will undertake a wide variety of projects with the Orchestra and its players.

Michael’s extraordinary talents as both a clarinettist and conductor are recognised and admired across the world, and this new role with the Ulster Orchestra is borne of a strong musical relationship that has developed in recent years, though has its roots in the very beginning of Michael’s career. Michael says:
 
“I first played with the Ulster Orchestra directly after the very first BBC Young Musician of the Year competition back in 1978. The conductor then for the finals of the competition was Bryden Thomson, who was then principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, and he invited me over in 1978. So as a youngster, I took my first aeroplane trip over to Belfast and I played Gerald Finzi's clarinet concerto. It's really interesting that I've gone full circle and my relationship with the Ulster Orchestra goes back nearly 50 years.”

The first project that Michael will take on with the Ulster Orchestra is a new recording of Weber’s Clarinet Concertos, which will be recorded in the Ulster Hall for release in 2026. Other activities include conducting Sayaka Shoji in a performance of Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto in the Ulster Hall on Friday 1 May (the programme also includes Prokofiev’s Symphony No.1 and Beethoven’s Symphony No.1), conducting his regular performance partner, pianist Michael McHale, in a concert for the BBC on Thursday 27 November and a tour of three venues across Northern Ireland.

Ulster Orchestra Artistic Director & Deputy Chief Executive Patrick McCarthy says: “We’re delighted that Michael Collins is joining us as Principal Guest Artist. Michael’s talents as both clarinettist and conductor will be on show across the next three seasons at the Ulster Hall, and as part of our regional and BBC broadcast activities. We’ve developed a close musical relationship with Michael over the last few seasons and are excited to see how this will develop, given Michael’s extraordinary musicality and the connection with our players.”

And the final words are Michael’s: “[When I was asked] to come and be part of the Orchestra, I was absolutely overjoyed… As a musician you always remember your very first important concert and for me, my very first important concert was with the Ulster Orchestra…I just can't wait to get started and do lots of really, truly exceptional music-making together.”