Chamber Orchestra of Europe

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) was founded in 1981 by a group of young musicians who became acquainted as part of the European Union Youth Orchestra. There are now about 60 members of the independently financed COE, which combines principals and section leaders from international ensembles, eminent chamber musicians, and music teachers. From the start, the orchestra’s identity has been 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 such stage works as Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims and Il barbiere di Siviglia and Mozart’s Figaro and Don Giovanni. 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. Currently the COE enjoys close associations with Bernard Haitink, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Sir András Schiff, all of whom are honorary members of the orchestra. The 2018-19 season saw appearances with Robin Ticciati, Leonidas Kavakos, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, and Pierre-Laurent Aimard; the COE toured with Sir Antonio Pappano and Janine Jansen through Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy in May and June 2019. Starting in the 2021-22 season, the COE will serve as orchestra-in-residence in the new Casals Forum at the Kronberg Academy. The COE has recorded more than 250 works, and its CDs have won over 60 international prizes, including the Grammy Award, Gramophone’s Record of the Year Award, and the MIDEM Classical Download Award. Their most recent releases are of Schumann’s Piano and Cello Concertos with Martha Argerich, Gautier Capuçon, and Bernard Haitink (January 2019) and of Mozart’s Magic Flute led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin (summer 2019).

LUCERNE FESTIVAL (IMF) debut on 21 August 1986 in a program of works by Prokofiev, Mendelssohn, and Brahms under Claudio Abbado.

For further information on this ensemble, visit their homepage at: www.coeurope.org

August 2019