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Michael Collins

Michael Collins, pianist and award-winning composer, is a graduate of the Thornton School of Music at USC, where he studied with jazz masters Shelly Berg, Russ Ferrante, and Kim Richmond. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, Michael studied in his own back yard with jazz legend Armand Boatman at the "Granada Conservatory" (Armand's living room on Granada Street). Michael's piano playing and arranging is modern yet deeply rooted in the jazz tradition. His big band composition "Sketch Artist" was awarded honorable mention in the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards, and his big band arrangement of "El Sur" was featured on "40 Acres and a Burro," a GRAMMY-nominee for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. He performs and composes with valley favorite, Superstition Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Mike Crotty. Performances by the Michael Collins Trio, which feature Michael as a leader and arranger, are must-see events. Come listen and say hi!

Awards

Honorable Mention, ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards

Arrangement of "El Sur" featured on the GRAMMY-nominated album, "40 Acres and a Burro"


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Album Review

Swedish Chamber Orchestra / Michael Collins: Works for Clarinet and Orchestra

Read "Works for Clarinet and Orchestra" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


English clarinetist Michael Collins is no stranger to Mozart's lone clarinet concerto, having provided Gramophone Magazine its critical selection of the same for several years in Clarinet Concertos: Mozart--Beethoven (Deutsche Grammophon, 2000), with Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra (since unseated by equally fine performance on the 2010 Hyperion release from Thea King and the English Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Jeffrey Tate). Collins now emerges as a gifted soloist and conductor on Works for Clarinet and Orchestra. ...

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Kim Richmond
saxophone
Mike Crotty
composer / conductor

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