The COE was founded in 1981 by a group of musicians graduating from the European Union Youth Orchestra. It was their ambition to continue working together at the highest professional level, and of that original group, thirteen remain in the current core membership of around sixty. The members of the COE, selected by the Orchestra itself, pursue parallel careers as international soloists, Leaders and Principals of nationally-based orchestras, as members of eminent chamber groups, and as professors of music. Performances are given regularly in the major cities of Europe and occasionally in the USA and Asia. 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. In partnership with the Kronberg Academy, the COE has been the first-ever Orchestra-in-residence at the Casals Forum in Kronberg since 2022. The COE has also been Orchestra-in-residence at the Esterh\u00e1zy Palace in Eisenstadt since 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently the Orchestra works closely with Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin, Sir Simon Rattle and Sir Andr\u00e1s Schiff, who are Honorary Members (following in the footsteps of Bernard Haitink and Nikolaus Harnoncourt), and also Sir Antonio Pappano and Robin Ticciati. The COE works with all the major recording companies and, in just over forty years years, has recorded more than 250 works and won numerous international awards, including three Gramophone Record of the Year awards and two Grammys. The Orchestra\u2019s latest recording was a Brahms Symphony Cycle with Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin, recorded at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus and released by Deutsche Grammophon in July 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The COE created its Academy in 2009 and each year awards scholarships to talented postgraduate students and young professionals to study with the COE\u2019s principal players when the Orchestra is \u2018on tour\u2019. The Orchestra receives invaluable financial support from The Gatsby Charitable Foundation and a further number of Friends including Dasha Shenkman, Sir Siegmund Warburg\u2019s Voluntary Settlement, the Rupert Hughes Will Trust, the Underwood Trust, the 35th Anniversary Friends and American Friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n