Resident Ensemble
2021
The European Union Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) gave its first concerts in 1981 and soon gained a worldwide reputation as a musical ambassador for what was then the European Community.
From 1992 to 2011 assistance from the European Commission enabled EUCO to tour in South and East Asia, North, South and Central America, North Africa and the Middle East as well as Europe.
Performances included those in the presence of the royal families of Holland, Belgium, Spain, Jordan, Thailand and Cambodia.
In 1996 EUCO was the first “European” Orchestra to give concerts in Belize and Cuba. In 1997 our tour of Canada celebrated 500 years since the landing of John Cabot and in 1998 we toured India in celebration of 50 years of the country’s independence and also the British Presidency of the EU.
Performances, to date in 73 countries, include prestigious halls such as Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Kölner Philharmonie, Milan’s Sala Verdi and Valencia’s Palau de la Musica and regular appearances in many major halls across Britain. Famous soloists who have performed with EUCO include Nicola Benedetti, Sheku Kanneh Mason, Alison Balsom, Julian Lloyd Webber, James Galway, Mischa Maisky and Alina Ibragimova.
Appearances at international festivals have included the Glasperlenspiel, Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Emilia Romagna, Flanders, Echternach, Bodensee and Ravello and recent tours have taken us to Luxembourg, Germany and often to Spain, Malta, Egypt and Turkey.