Biography

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 (now EUYO). There are now about 60 members of the COE, who pursue parallel careers as principals or section leaders of nationally-based orchestras, as eminent chamber musicians, and as tutors 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 Il viaggio a Reims and Il barbiere di Siviglia and Mozart’s Le 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. Past associations with Sándor Végh, Alexander Schneider, Paavo Berglund and Bernard Haitink are also important highlights in the life of the COE.

Currently the Orchestra works closely with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir András Schiff and Robin Ticciati who are Honorary Members (following in the footsteps of Bernard Haitink and Nikolaus Harnoncourt).

The COE has strong links with many of the major festivals and concert halls in Europe including the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Kammermusiksaal der Philharmonie in Berlin, the Cologne, Luxembourg and Paris Philharmonies, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe has been “Residenzorchester Schloss Esterházy” in Eisenstadt since 2022. In partnership with the Kronberg Academy, the COE also became the first-ever Orchestra-in-residence at the Casals Forum in Kronberg in 2022.

With more than 250 works in its discography, the COE’s CDs have won numerous international prizes, including two Grammys and three Gramophone Record of the Year Awards. Our most recent releases include the recording of the Clara Wieck-Schumann and Robert Schumann’s Piano Concertos with Beatrice Rana and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in February 2023, to international acclaim. In July 2024, Deutsche Grammophon released our Brahms Symphonies, recorded at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus with Yannick Nézet-Séguin during 2022 and 2023.

In 2009, the COE Academy was created in order to give a select group of exceptional students the chance to study with the principal players of COE and, importantly, to give the students the opportunity 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 American Friends.

To find out more about the COE and its members, you can listen to our podcast presented by Simon Mundy.

Feature about the COE, ‘Continental drift’ by Simon Mundy, in Classical Music Magazine (April 2019)

Read more about our relationships with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Bernard Haitink and Claudio Abbado.

For a year-by-year chronology of the COE odyssey, as told by our bass trombonist Nick Eastop, please visit our #COE40 page.

Please click here to download the COE’s full biography.

 

History

The History of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Please click on the chapters below to discover the unique story of the creation of the COE and to find out how the Orchestra has evolved since 1981.

Harmony on a honeymoon – or listen to the story of the COE’s genesis on our podcast here.

The 1980’s and 1990’s

The COE in the new millennium

For a year-by-year chronology of the COE odyssey, as told by our bass trombonist Nick Eastop, please visit our #COE40 page.

 

Timeline

COE Timeline

Please enlarge to full screen and turn the sound on for an optimal experience. To do this, please click on the three dots at the bottom right of the screen and then on the arrows pointing outwards.

If you are on a mobile, please turn your device to view in landscape mode.

If you would like to open the content of the red ‘plus’ signs without losing the full-screen timeline, please right-click on the ‘plus’ sign and select ‘open in a new window’.

 

: :
  • Honorary Members
    András Schiff
    Antonio Pappano
    Robin Ticciati
    Simon Rattle
    Yannick Nézet-Séguin
  • Violin
    Benjamin Gilmore, Violin
    Christian Eisenberger, Violin
    Elizabeth Wexler, Violin
    Fiona Brett, Violin
    Fredrik Paulsson, Violin
    Håkan Rudner, Violin
    Henriette Scheytt, Violin
    Iris Juda, Violin (Associate)
    Joe Rappaport, Violin
    Lorenza Borrani, Leader/Director
    Lucy Gould, Principal Second Violin
    Maia Cabeza, Principal Second Violin
    Maria Włoszczowska, Leader/Director
    Marieke Blankestijn, Associate Leader/Director
    Martin Walch, Violin
    Matilda Kaul, Violin
    Rosa Hartley, Violin
    Sophie Besançon, Violin
    Stefano Mollo, Violin
    Ulrika Jansson, Violin (Associate)
  • Viola
    Claudia Hofert, Viola
    Dorle Sommer, Viola
    Ida Grøn, Viola (Associate)
    Pascal Siffert, Principal Viola
    Riikka Repo, Viola
    Simone von Rahden, Viola (Associate)
    Stephen Wright, Viola (Associate)
    Wouter Raubenheimer, Viola
  • Cello
    Henrik Brendstrup, Cello (Associate)
    Howard Penny, Cello (Associate)
    Kate Gould, Cello
    Kim Bak Dinitzen, Cello (Associate)
    Luise Buchberger, Cello
    Richard Lester, Principal Cello
    Sally-Jane Pendlebury, Cello (Associate)
    Tomas Djupsjöbacka, Cello
  • Double Bass
    Dane Roberts, Double Bass
    Enno Senft, Principal Double Bass
    Håkan Ehrén, Double Bass (Associate)
    Philip Nelson, Double Bass
  • Flute
    Clara Andrada de la Calle, Principal Flute
    Josine Buter, Flute
  • Oboe
    Philippe Tondre, Principal Oboe
  • Clarinet
    Marie Lloyd, Clarinet
    Romain Guyot, Principal Clarinet
  • Bassoon
    Christopher Gunia, Bassoon
    Rie Koyama, Principal Bassoon
  • Horn
    Benoît de Barsony, Principal Horn
    Beth Randell, Horn
    Jan Harshagen, Horn (Associate)
    Jasper de Waal, Principal Horn
    Peter Richards, Horn (Associate)
  • Trumpet
    Julian Poore, Trumpet
    Neil Brough, Principal Trumpet
  • Trombone
    Håkan Björkman, Principal Trombone (Associate)
    Helen Vollam, Trombone (Associate)
  • Bass Trombone
    Nicholas Eastop, Bass Trombone
  • Tuba
    Jens Bjørn-Larsen, Tuba (Associate)
  • Timpani
    John Chimes, Timpani
  • Trustees
    James Judd, Conductor
    Michael Hoare, C.Hoare & Co
    Peter Readman, COE Executive Chairman
  • Management
    Camilla Follett, Planning and Personnel Manager
    Coralia Galtier, Business Development Manager
    Derri Lewis, Tour and Project Manager and Librarian
    Giovanni Quaglia, Finance and Project Manager
    Norman Thomas, Accountant
    Peter Readman, Executive Chairman
    Simon Fletcher, General Manager
    Tiago Carvalho, Stage and Project Manager
  • Advisers
    Caroline Harding-Gelbard, Digital Strategy Adviser (Paperless Post)
    Stephen Wright, International Adviser, SWM
  • Former Members
    Andrew Roberts, Violin
    Annette Bik, Violin
    Benjamin Nabarro, Violin
    Bernard Haitink
    Bruce Nockles, Principal Trumpet
    Charlotte Walterspiel, Viola
    Christoph Marks, Cello
    Christoph Poppen, Leader
    Cindy Foster, Violin
    Corinne Contardo, Viola
    David Alberman, Principal Second Violin
    Diemut Poppen, Principal Viola
    Douglas Boyd, Principal Oboe
    Douglas Paterson, Principal Viola
    Fiona McCapra, Violin
    Florian Geldsetzer, Violin
    François Leleux, Principal Oboe
    Geoff Prentice, Timpani
    Gérard Korsten, Leader
    Gert-Inge Andersson, Viola
    Gordan Nikolic, Leader
    Graham Oppenheimer, Principal Viola
    Gyula Stuller, Violin
    Hans Liviabella, Violin
    Herbert Mayr, Double-bass
    Ingrid Friedrich, Violin
    Jackie Hartley, Violin
    Jacques Zoon, Principal Flute
    Jaime Martin, Principal Flute
    James Clark, Leader
    John Bradbury, Clarinet
    Kai Frömbgen, Principal Oboe
    Katrine Yttrehus, Principal Second Violin
    Keith Pascoe, Leader
    Kolbjørn Holthe, Principal Second Violin
    Leo Phillips, Principal Second Violin
    Lesley Hatfield, Violin
    Lily Francis, Violin
    Lukas Hagen, Leader
    Lutz Schumacher, Double Bass
    Lynsey Marsh, Clarinet
    Maighread McCrann, Violin
    Marco Guidarini, Cello
    Maria Kubizek, Violin
    Mats Zetterqvist, Principal Second Violin
    Matthew Wilkie, Principal Bassoon
    Matthias Lingenfelder, Leader
    Nicholas Rodwell, Clarinet
    Nikolaus and Alice Harnoncourt
    Noor Kamerbeek, Principal Flute
    Pal Banda, Cello
    Peter Brunt, Violin
    Rachel Frost, Oboe and Cor Anglais
    Richard Hosford, Principal Clarinet
    Rick Stotijn, Double-Bass
    Robin O'Neill, Principal Bassoon
    Roger Tapping, Viola
    Sarah Bevan-Baker, Violin
    Silvia Iberer, Violin
    Stephanie Gonley, Violin
    Stephen Stirling, Horn
    Stewart Eaton, Principal Viola
    Tanya Lugli, Cello
    Thierry Fischer, Principal Flute
    Ulf Forsberg, Violin
    William Conway, Principal Cello
icon-arrow-left-white icon-arrow icon-arrow icon-caret icon-close facebook icon-idagio itunes icon-logo-small icon-padlock icon-play icon-plus youtube