European Union Baroque Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO) is a training initiative of the European Union
which allows young performers of baroque music
from all over the EU to gain orchestral experience as part of their career development from conservatoire study into a professional career. The success of the project under the direction of the world’s most eminent baroque musicians can be measured in the number of ex-EUBO members who now play in Europe's leading baroque orchestras.
, Domenico Scarlatti
and George Frideric Handel
. Since then, more than 500 full-time members of EUBO have given over 600 performances in 51 countries worldwide.
The Ensemble performs at many of Europe’s finest music festivals and concert halls, including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Opéra-Comique
in Paris, the festivals of Ansbach, Musikalischer Herbst, and the specialist early music festivals such as Utrecht, York, and Ambronay. Outside of Europe, as well as tours to Japan
, USA and South Africa
, EUBO has played in less favoured parts of the world as Ramallah and the Gaza Strip
, Botswana
, Soweto
and others.
.
The orchestra is completely renewed every year. Auditions take place in spring, with usually around 100 young baroque musicians applying for the 20-25 places in the ensemble. The successful applicants then come together for four tours which take place between July and December, and which take them all across the EU and beyond. These tours are directed by leading baroque professionals: Lars Ulrik Mortensen
, Enrico Onofri, Roy Goodman
, Petra Müllejans, Christophe Coin, Margaret Faultless, Edward Higginbottom, Rachel Podger
, Andrew Manze
, Ton Koopman
, Fabio Biondi
and Christina Pluhar are amongst the artists who regularly work with EUBO.
EUBO is financially supported by the European Union, for which it acts as an official Cultural Ambassador, and by private sponsorship.
Since 2008, EUBO has been Orchestra-in-Residence in Echternach
, Luxembourg, working together with the City of Echternach, Festival International Echternach and the new cultural centre Trifolion.
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
which allows young performers of baroque music
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
from all over the EU to gain orchestral experience as part of their career development from conservatoire study into a professional career. The success of the project under the direction of the world’s most eminent baroque musicians can be measured in the number of ex-EUBO members who now play in Europe's leading baroque orchestras.
History
EUBO was founded in 1985 as a major initiative of the European Music Year to celebrate the 300th anniversaries of three great baroque musicians: Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, Domenico Scarlatti
Domenico Scarlatti
Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer who spent much of his life in the service of the Portuguese and Spanish royal families. He is classified as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the development of the Classical style...
and George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
. Since then, more than 500 full-time members of EUBO have given over 600 performances in 51 countries worldwide.
The Ensemble performs at many of Europe’s finest music festivals and concert halls, including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
in Paris, the festivals of Ansbach, Musikalischer Herbst, and the specialist early music festivals such as Utrecht, York, and Ambronay. Outside of Europe, as well as tours to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, USA and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, EUBO has played in less favoured parts of the world as Ramallah and the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
, Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
and others.
Structure and funding
The European Union Baroque Orchestra is an educational charity registered in England & Wales and is headquartered in Wootton, West OxfordshireWootton, West Oxfordshire
Wootton is a village and civil parish on the River Glyme about north of Woodstock, Oxfordshire. The village is sometimes referred to as Wootton-by-Woodstock to distinguish it from Wootton, Vale of White Horse, which was in Berkshire but was transferred to Oxfordshire in the 1974 local authority...
.
The orchestra is completely renewed every year. Auditions take place in spring, with usually around 100 young baroque musicians applying for the 20-25 places in the ensemble. The successful applicants then come together for four tours which take place between July and December, and which take them all across the EU and beyond. These tours are directed by leading baroque professionals: Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Lars Ulrik Mortensen is a Danish harpsichordist and conductor.He studied with Karen Englund and Jesper Bøje Christensen at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and with Trevor Pinnock in London....
, Enrico Onofri, Roy Goodman
Roy Goodman
Roy Goodman is a conductor and violinist, specialising in the performance and direction of early music...
, Petra Müllejans, Christophe Coin, Margaret Faultless, Edward Higginbottom, Rachel Podger
Rachel Podger
Rachel Podger is an English violinist specialising in the performance of baroque music. She often conducts baroque orchestras from the violin, and in 2004 took up a guest directorship with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, having previously been leader of The English Concert from 1997 to...
, Andrew Manze
Andrew Manze
Andrew Manze is an English violinist and conductor.As a guest conductor Manze has regular relationships with a number of leading international orchestras including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Munich Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra,...
, Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...
, Fabio Biondi
Fabio Biondi
Fabio Biondi is an Italian violinist and conductor.Born in Palermo, Sicily, Biondi began his international career at the age of 12 playing a concerto with the RAI Symphony Orchestra. When he was 16, he performed Bach's violin concertos at the Musikverein in Vienna...
and Christina Pluhar are amongst the artists who regularly work with EUBO.
EUBO is financially supported by the European Union, for which it acts as an official Cultural Ambassador, and by private sponsorship.
Since 2008, EUBO has been Orchestra-in-Residence in Echternach
Echternach
Echternach is a commune with city status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in Luxembourg....
, Luxembourg, working together with the City of Echternach, Festival International Echternach and the new cultural centre Trifolion.
Discography
- 1990 - Handel - TamerlanoTamerlanoTamerlano is an opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music , with music by George Frideric Handel to an Italian text by Nicola Francesco Haym, adapted from Agostin Piovene's Tamerlano together with another libretto entitled Bajazet after Nicolas Pradon's Tamerlan, ou La Mort de...
. Roy Goodman, director - 1991 - William Corbett - Bizzarie Universali. Roy Goodman, director; Andrew ManzeAndrew ManzeAndrew Manze is an English violinist and conductor.As a guest conductor Manze has regular relationships with a number of leading international orchestras including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Munich Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra,...
, violin - 1991 - Pieter HellendaalPieter HellendaalPieter Hellendaal was an organist and violinist, and one of the most famous composers of Dutch origin in the 18th century. At age 30, he migrated to England where he lived for the last 48 of his 78 years.-Early and Student Years:...
- 6 Concerti Grossi. Roy Goodman, director; Andrew Manze, violin - 1992 - Birds, Beasts and Battles. Monica Hugget, conductor/violin
- 1993 - EC Baroque Orchestra Japan Tour. Lucy van DaelLucy van DaelLucy van Dael is a Dutch baroque violinist and member of the faculty of the Amsterdam Conservatory. Her principal violin studies were at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague....
, director/violin; Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen, violin; Konrad Hünteler, flute - 1996 - J. S. Bach Markus PassionSt Mark Passion (Bach)The St Mark Passion , BWV 247, is a lost Passion setting by Johann Sebastian Bach, first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday, 23 March 1731 and again on Good Friday 1744 in a revised version...
. Roy Goodman, director; Ring Ensemble of Finland (Musica Oscura) - 2002 - Handel - Apollo e Dafne, The Alchemist (Naxos CD)
- 2002 - Haendel, Rameau, Rebel. Roy Goodman, director
- 2003 - The Spirit of History (The Gift of Music CD)
- 2004 - Music for a Great House (The Gift of Music CD)
- 2005 - Rameau: Ballet Suites (Naxos CD)
- 2006 - Bach: Matthäus Passion, Johannes Passion, Markus Passion, Lukas Passion (Brilliant Classics CD)
- 2007 - George Frideric Handel, Johann Sterkel, John Stanley - Suites & Solos (The Gift of Music CD)
- 2008 - Jean-Philippe Rameau, Johann Joseph Fux, Johann Sebastian Bach - Baroque Suites. Lars Ulrik Mortensen, director (The Gift of Music CD)