Baden-Baden and Evian 2026
22nd June - 1st July 2026

This summer, the COE embarks on one of its most eagerly anticipated annual reunions, joining our Honorary Member Yannick Nézet-Séguin for a tour taking in two of Europe’s most celebrated summer music destinations: the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and the Grange au Lac in Évian. The tour runs from 22 June to 1 July 2026.

The COE and Baden-Baden

The Festspielhaus holds a unique and cherished place in the COE’s history. We gave our first concert there in 1999 — shortly after the hall opened its doors in 1998 — under the baton of Herbert Blomstedt, with violinist Christian Tetzlaff, in a programme of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Since then, the Festspielhaus has become a home from home, hosting many of our most memorable concerts and landmark recording projects. You can explore the full history of our appearances there here.

The hall’s support for the COE has been unwavering, and never more so than in the summer of 2021, when, as pandemic restrictions finally began to ease, it was the Festspielhaus that welcomed us back to the stage for the first time. General Manager Benedikt Stampa was determined to go ahead with a Beethoven symphony cycle — recorded by Deutsche Grammophon — with or without an audience. That commitment meant the world to us, and it is a chapter in our relationship with Baden-Baden we will not forget.

The COE and Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Our partnership with Yannick stretches back to 2008, when we first made music together at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. In the years since, it has blossomed into one of the most fruitful and joyful collaborations in the COE’s history. Together we have recorded a remarkable body of work — the Schumann, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Brahms symphony cycles, as well as a celebrated series of Mozart operas (Così fan tutte, La Clemenza di Tito, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Die Zauberflöte) — the majority released on Deutsche Grammophon. We have also recorded concertos with Lisa Batiashvili, Seong-Jin Cho and Beatrice Rana. Much of this work was made right here in Baden-Baden.

Yannick has spoken warmly of what the COE means to him: “I have admired the Chamber Orchestra of Europe since my student years through wonderful concerts and recordings; I also had the privilege to witness very closely the work of these great musicians with the late Carlo Maria Giulini. Some years later, when I first stood among them to make music, we immediately felt a very unique connection. The artistry, enthusiasm, dedication and knowledge of these musicians have no boundaries. Every single moment with the COE counts amongst the most treasured in my life as a musician. I am looking forward to many more moments like these.” For a glimpse into this special relationship, do watch this short film.

The Programmes

The Baden-Baden concerts take place as part of La Capitale d’Eté at the Festspielhaus on 26, 27 and 28 June, before the COE travels to the Grange au Lac in Évian for the Rencontres Musicales d’Évian on 30 June.

26 June (Baden-Baden) & 30 June (Évian) Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor D. 759 ‘Unfinished’ Weber: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor op. 73 — soloist: Romain Guyot Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A major op. 90 ‘Italian’

27 June (Baden-Baden) Chamber music concert — programme to be announced

28 June (Baden-Baden) Weber: Oberon Overture Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major op. 58 — soloist: Alexandre Kantorow Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C major D. 944 ‘Great C major’

The Soloists

It is a particular pleasure to welcome two outstanding soloists on this tour.

Our own Romain Guyot, Principal Clarinet of the COE since 2008, steps into the spotlight to perform Weber’s First Clarinet Concerto. Romain has been performing with the COE since the late nineties and has performed as a soloist throughout Europe, Japan, Korea, China, South America and the USA. He was appointed principal clarinet of the European Union Youth Orchestra at just 16, under Claudio Abbado, and went on to serve as principal clarinet of the Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Paris from 1991 to 2001. He won the Young Concert Artist International Auditions in New York in 1996 — one of the most prestigious honours for a young soloist. He released his first CD as soloist with the COE in April 2013, featuring Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and Quintet for the label Mirare, and is currently preparing a Schumann album for release in Spring 2026. Romain is also, perhaps less typically for a clarinettist, a man of remarkable physical ambition — in 2004 he climbed Mont Blanc to give a clarinet recital at 4,810 metres above sea level, on the roof of Europe. You can read Romain’s full biography on the COE’s website.

The 28 June concert marks a particularly exciting occasion: the COE debut of pianist Alexandre Kantorow, one of the most compelling pianists of his generation. In 2019, aged just 22, Kantorow became the first French pianist to win the Gold Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, along with the rarely awarded Grand Prix — granted only three times in the competition’s history. In 2024 he received the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award, and in July of that year performed Ravel’s Jeux d’eau at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games. He records exclusively for BIS, and his recordings have received the highest critical acclaim worldwide. Gramophone magazine has described him as a fire-breathing virtuoso with poetic charm and innate stylistic mastery — and we cannot wait to experience that for ourselves. Fittingly, it is Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto — one of the most poetic and inward-looking works in the repertoire — that will mark his arrival with the COE. You can visit Alexandre Kantorow’s website for more information.