Colburn School Announces Salonen Fellows

Sel Kardan, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Colburn School, and Esa-Pekka Salonen, Colburn School faculty, are pleased to announce the inaugural class of Salonen Fellows in the Conservatory's new Negaunee Conducting Program. British conductor and pianist Angus Webster and Finnish-British conductor Ross Jamie Collins were selected from more than 115 applicants from throughout the world. They will enroll in the Colburn School's Conservatory of Music and join the Colburn Artists roster, beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year. Admission to the School's Conservatory of Music is extremely selective, with a current acceptance rate of 7.7%.

Salonen joined the Colburn School faculty in Fall 2018 to lead and develop the Negaunee Conducting Program, a course of study in the school's Conservatory of Music for a small, select group of aspiring young conductors. Known as Salonen Fellows, these students will develop their craft and nurture their talent through personal mentorship. In keeping with the Colburn School Conservatory model, students will receive full scholarship to cover tuition, room, and board. At both the Colburn School and with the Philharmonia Orchestra, where Salonen serves as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, the Salonen Fellows will gain significant real-world podium experience in Los Angeles and throughout the world.

I'm very proud to welcome Angus Webster and Ross Collins to the Negaunee Conducting Program as the first class of Fellows, said Salonen. Both showed great talent and openness, as well as a real ability to communicate with the musicians in a natural way. This program a special collaboration between the Colburn School and Philharmonia realizes a long-held personal desire to mentor young conductors during this important phase in their careers.

We are thrilled to officially launch the Negaunee Conducting Program with its inaugural class of Fellows, said Kardan. In the tradition of the Colburn School's personalized approach to learning, the Fellows will have the unprecedented opportunity to nurture their craft under the visionary guidance of Esa-Pekka Salonen, and with the Philharmonia Orchestra. We look forward to watching Angus and Ross continue their artistic growth as we embark on this international collaboration with the Philharmonia. We are deeply grateful to the Negaunee Foundation for their leadership support to establish this groundbreaking program.

Together, the Colburn School and Philharmonia Orchestra will establish public opportunities for the Salonen Fellows to conduct the world-class Philharmonia in both its UK residency series and designated tour dates. The Fellows will have the opportunity to collaborate with other young musicians on the Philharmonia's Emerging Artists program, designed to connect young artists to the wider life of the Philharmonia; work with Philharmonia's management to develop and produce Salonen's flagship projects; and serve as assistant conductors to Salonen for his engagements with the Philharmonia, other orchestras, opera houses, tours, and festivals.

Throughout the program, the Fellows will study with Salonen at the Colburn School and serve as preparatory conductors for the flagship Colburn Orchestra. They will also conduct the Zipper Outreach Orchestra, Colburn's performing ensemble for its community engagement activities, and the Concerto Forum Showcase, an annual public concert that features soloists from the Conservatory of Music taking place in January 2020. Salonen will also coach Conservatory students preparing for orchestral auditions and will regularly conduct the Colburn Orchestra as part of its annual performance series. The conducting program is made possible by the Negaunee Foundation, created in 1987 to celebrate and support the arts and cultural institutions.

Angus Webster and Ross Collins will also join the roster of Colburn Artists, a unique in-house professional management program for Colburn students on the cusp of professional careers. Created in order to provide guidance and support during the critical transition from studying to touring, the Colburn Artists program is designed to prepare students to work with industry leaders and artist managers. In a supportive atmosphere linked closely with their individual performance studies, they receive personalized career advice and training, including guidance on building relationships with presenters, orchestras, and professional musicians; developing repertoire; interview preparation; and creating a professional image and online presence.

Meet the Fellows:

Angus Webster

Praised by orchestras for his inspiring musicianship, British conductor and pianist Angus Webster is one of the most promising young musicians of his generation. In 2018, Angus was awarded both joint top prize and the orchestra prize at the Jorma Panula international conducting competition in Finland.

Born in 1999, Angus spent his childhood in Cornwall and began his musical studies aged six with piano lessons from Elena Needham. Aged nine, he started producing and presenting a classical music programme live on local radio in Cornwall and only three years later, Angus made his conducting d but with Cornwall Youth Orchestra. He subsequently became their principal conductor, and together they went on to receive national acclaim and performed at many prestigious venues, including Birmingham Symphony Hall and the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Angus is also a passionate chamber musician and enjoys collaborating as a pianist with many outstanding young musicians from around the world. He has studied piano with Alasdair Beatson at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, viola with Tim Boulton, conducting with Patrick Bailey, and chamber music with Ferenc Rados and Rita Wagner at the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove.

Ross Jamie Collins

Ross Jamie Collins is a young Finnish-British conductor who presently studies with Jorma Panula at the Panula Academy in Finland. In 2018 he was awarded Third Prize in the VII International Jorma Panula Conducting Competition, and in 2019 he makes his debuts with the South Denmark Philharmonic and the Kirkkonummi Chamber Orchestra. Born in 2001 in Nottingham, United Kingdom, Ross has been living in Helsinki, Finland since 2008 where he began conducting studies at the age of 14 with Klaus M kel . In 2017 he founded his own orchestra, named Symphony Orchestra ROSSO, and conducted a full symphony concert at the age of 15.

Supported by a scholarship from The Finnish Cultural Foundation, Ross has participated in numerous international conducting masterclasses and has had experience conducting the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, Vaasa City Orchestra, Sinfonietta Cracovia, MAV Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra, Lappeenranta City Orchestra, St. Michel Strings and The Camerata Antonio Soler. He also works as an assistant conductor of the Lauttasaari Symphony Orchestra.

In 2019, Ross will graduate from the Sibelius-lukio High School, where he is part of the award-winning Chamber Choir and the band 'Beyond The Oceans' in which he plays the keyboard. He began his musical studies playing piano, violin, cello and French horn, and since 2014 he has concentrated his instrumental training in singing. As a baritone he is currently studying with Mervi Sipola-Maliniemi