Hannah Collins

Cellist Hannah Collins performs on both modern and Baroque cellos and has dual specialties in Baroque and avant-garde contemporary music. She performs as part of the contemporary duo New Morse Code, and she has commissioned new music from important composers both solo and as part of that duo. Collins was born in Geneva, New York, near Rochester, in 1984. Collins' older sister Sarah played the violin, and Hannah, wanting to emulate her, took up the cello at age four. She was steered in the direction of a musical career by positive experiences as a high school student at the Greenwood Music Camp in Massachusetts. Collins attended Yale University, graduating summa cum laude with a dual major in biomedical engineering and cello performance. She went on for graduate studies at the Yale School of Music and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in the Netherlands. Among her teachers were Aldo Parisot, Stefan Reuss, and Marcy Rosen. She attended the Ensemble Connect professional development program affiliated with Carnegie Hall and the Juilliard School, among other institutions. She has, in turn, pursued educational initiatives in her own professional life, serving as co-director of KHBH: Together in Music and teaching cello and chamber music at the Greenwood Junior Music Camp. Collins has played as part of the continuo group with various leading Baroque ensembles. She has appeared regularly with New York Baroque Incorporated and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, among other groups, and she is a member of the Bach Aria Soloists. Collins has also performed with The Knights, the Talea Ensemble, and A Far Cry. She has appeared as a soloist at festivals in North America and Europe, including the Aldeburgh Festival in the U.K. and Musique de Chamber à Giverny in France. Collins has been an important force in contemporary music, winning De Linkprijs for contemporary interpretation and commissioning new works from such composers as Caroline Shaw and Timo Andres. Some of her activities in this field have come with percussionist Michael Compitello; the two make up the duo New Morse Code, which has recorded for the New Focus and Innova labels. Collins released her solo debut, Resonance Lines, in 2021, on the Sono Luminus label.
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