EU Culture Programme
From the first concert in May 1981 all the way through to 2007 the Orchestra relied exclusively on its individual and Corporate Friends to enable it to operate effectively throughout the world. In 2007 the COE was most fortunate to be appointed a Cultural Ambassador for the European Union, and since that time it has benefited from significant support from the European Culture Programme.
Through its multi-cultural and multi-national membership and touring activities across Europe, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe has been officially granted this recognition as an organisation which, through its influence in the cultural field at European level, is a European "representative" of European culture. Indeed, according to Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo, the COE "is the greatest incarnation of the European cultural ideal."
As cultural ambassador, the COE has been invited to perform at various European events including the 50th anniversary celebrations of the signing of the Treaty of Rome in Luxembourg and London in 2007, the 10th Anniversary of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt in 2008, and at the first European Union Prize Awards for Literature in Brussels in 2009. In 2010, soloists from the Orchestra were invited to perform in the European Parliament in Brussels in front of European representatives including Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou and Doris Pack MEP, Chair of the Culture and Education Committee. On 1 January 2011, the COE was invited to perform Haydn's Creation under the direction of Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer at the Palace of Arts in Budapest to celebrate Hungary's European Presidency.
In 2008, in partnership with the Dublin Offices of the European Commission and European Parliament, the Orchestra took part in a school’s project for socially disadvantaged children. Approximately 30 children took part. COE chamber soloists led the project, playing a short concert and then hosting a workshop to introduce the children to classical music and to show them how instruments of the orchestra work and sound.
School Project at the European Commission Office in Dublin (Ireland, 2008)
At the invitation of Commissioner Vassiliou the COE performed at the European Culture Forum on 20 October 2011 in Flagey, Brussels, before an invited audience from the EU institutions and embassies.