The COE Academy
In 2009, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe established an Academy for outstanding postgraduate students. Those students selected receive scholarships to study with the Principal players of COE and to travel on tour with the orchestra in order to understand, and be inspired by the orchestra’s unique ethos and passion for making music.
Each year, a maximum of 12 students are selected to join the Academy: 2 violinists and 10 other students who play Viola, Cello, Bass, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Trumpet, and Timpani. Places are offered to students on the basis of merit alone and all successful candidates receive full scholarships. Tuition costs as well as travel, hotel and subsistence expenses are paid for by the Orchestra. The students selected are usually postgraduate students who have just left university or conservatoire.
Each student spends approximately 10 days on tour with the orchestra spread over the year, most usually taking part in two or three tours. The students have individual lessons from COE soloists, and in addition receive coaching on orchestral technique, chamber music, and performance style from other members of the orchestra. Feldenkrais Method along with professional development sessions are also offered. Students sometimes have the chance to play with the Orchestra during rehearsals and play chamber music with other students and with members of COE. They are made to feel as if they are a member of the Orchestra for the time they are “on tour”, to experience the idealism and unique ethos of the COE; to share the member’s passion for making music at the highest level with likeminded friends from diverse European backgrounds.
The COE Academy programme also makes it possible for highly talented young professionals who have recently graduated from conservatoire, to have the opportunity to gain orchestral experience at the very highest level.
Bosnian cellist Belma Alic was invited by William Conway, co-principal cello of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, to take part in the COE Academy programme during Styriarte 2010. Following her experience with the COE, she said: “I enjoyed the first day of rehearsals as an observer and was amazed by the energy and sound coming from the Orchestra. I am a big fan of this orchestra but hearing them live was an experience at a higher level. On the second day of the rehearsals I was fortunate enough to sit in the Orchestra and play. This was a life-changing experience and a moment that I will always treasure. I was inspired by some of these ideas [suggested during masterclasses with the COE cellists] and they are going to lead me through the music I will be playing back home, in Sarajevo. They [the COE] are a fantastic group of musicians and made me feel very welcome from the day I arrived in Graz.”