The Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) was founded in 1981 by a group of young musicians who became acquainted as part of the European Community Youth Orchestra (current EUYO). The COE now includes about 60 members, who pursue parallel careers as principals or section leaders of nationally-based orchestras, as eminent chamber musicians and as professors of music.
From the start, the COE's identity was shaped by its partnerships with leading conductors and soloists. It was Claudio Abbado above all who served as an important mentor in the early years. He led the COE in staged works such as Rossini's II viaggio a Reims and II barbiere di Siviglia and Mozart's Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni and conducted numerous concerts featuring works by Schubert and Brahms in particular. Nikolaus Harnoncourt also had a major influence on the development of the COE through his performances and recordings of all of the Beethoven symphonies, as well as through opera productions at the Salzburg, Vienna and Styriarte festivals.
The Orchestra currently works closely with Bernard Haitink, Sir Andras Schiff and Yannick Nezet-Seguin, who are all Honorary Members. The 2018-19 season sees the COE perform with some of the world's most renowned conductors and soloists including Robin Ticciati, Sir Antonio Pappano, Leonidas Kavakos, Janine Jansen, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider and Pierre-Laurent Aimard.
The COE has strong links with the Lucerne Festival and with many of the major concert halls in Europe including the Cologne Philharmonie, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, Paris Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. In partnership with the Kronberg Academy, the COE will become the first-ever orchestra-in residence at the future Casals Forum in Kronberg from 2021.
With more than 250 works in its discography, the COE has won numerous international prizes for its recordings, including two Grammys and three Gramophone Record of the Year Awards. Recent releases include 'Visions of Prokofiev' with Lisa Batiashvili which won an Opus Klassik and Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, both conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin.
In 2009, the COE Academy was created in order to give a select group of exceptional students the chance to perfect their art with the principal players of the COE and, importantly, to travel "on tour" with the Orchestra.
The COE is a private Orchestra which receives invaluable financial support from particularly the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and a further number of Friends including Dasha Shenkman, Sir Siegmund Warburg's Voluntary Settlement, the Rupert Hughes Will Trust, the Underwood Trust, the 35th Anniversary Friends and the American Friends.
www.coeurope.org
