With King Sihanouk of Cambodia
in the Royal Palace at Phnom Penh

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.

Vivaldi with Nicola Benedetti

Here are our current music directors

HANS PETER HOFMANN has a wide-ranging and successful international career as a soloist, concertmaster and chamber musician which has taken him all across Europe, America and most recently to Korea.

He is a much sought-after violin teacher and currently Professor at the Musikhochschule in Saarbrücken.

With EUCO he has toured widely, including to Mexico and South America and in the UK several of his concerts have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Nottingham Post wrote in April 2019

Hans-Peter Hofmann’s approach [in Schubert’s 5^th symphony] ensured well-judged pacing, sensitive phrasing and much beautiful playing from the orchestra. Inner detail was allowed to shine through in a performance which combined precision with affection.

Luxemburger Wort wrote in September 2015

The two first bars of the ‘Simple Symphony’ op.4 of the 21-year old Benjamin Britten sufficed to give the impression that a technically and musically accomplished Ensemble was playing….. With Mozart’s A major Symphony K.201 EUCO brought the evening to a close in convincing and inspiring manner. A Mozart interpretation which bounced along with both lightness and excitement.

Dutch violinist, EVA STEGEMAN has a long-standing relationship with EUCO.  Currently, leader of the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss, she has also led period instrument groups such as Combattimento Consort Amsterdam and is the founding violinist of the Cristofori Piano Quartet. 

Professor of chamber music at the Conservatories of The Hague and Rotterdam she is the founder and director of the well-respected ‘Classical Encounters’ chamber music festival.  

The Cambridge Critique wrote in January 2020

Next up a fine rendition of a relative rarity from Mozart – the ‘Cassation No. 1’ – which gave the violinist Eva Stegeman a chance to shine in many lovely solo parts…..Tchaikovsky’s ‘Elegy for Strings’ was quite exquisitely played – sad but lovely with its repeated simple melody, haunting in tone, the orchestra in perfect balance.  

And the EDP wrote of a concert in Norwich in 2018

Directed from the violin by Eva Stegeman, they began with an excellent account of Bach’s 3rd Brandenburg Concerto, tempi perfectly judged, textures clear; a performance with a real feeling of spontaneity.

DARRAGH MORGAN enjoys a hugely diverse career.  His great interest in contemporary music has led to engagements with groups such as Ensemble Modern, the London Sinfonietta and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.  Festivals, where he has performed, include Wien Modern, Ars Musica Brussels, the Festival d’Automne Paris, Aldeburgh and Cheltenham.

As violinist of the Fidelio Trio he has performed as far afield as Shanghai, New York and Johannesburg, and as a soloist he has appeared with the Kölner Kammerorchester and Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.  He has been teaching at the Colleges of Music in Cardiff, Glasgow and London (the RCM).

The Ilkley Gazette wrote of a socially distanced concert in October 2020 in Leeds Town Hall

Although reduced to half their normal playing strength to ten musicians on stage, the vitality of the smaller ensemble directed by Darragh Morgan was just infectious…… Mozart’s Divertimento K138 emerged with taste and poise and Handel’s Concerto Grosso Opus 6, No 1 had the desired crispness

These are available EUCO RECORDINGS

For MOZART – Symphony no.29, Kassation K.63, Divertimento K.251/Hofmann, go to barncottagerecords.co.uk

This 2013 release of music by Mozart received an “Outstanding Award” in the International Record Review.

For a preview, with light-hearted introduction produced in mid-2020, click here

For VIVALDI – Concertos for Two Cellos/Julian & Jiaxin Lloyd Webber/Hofmann, go to naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.573374.

This CD, released in 2014, was in the top 10 of the Amazon charts and no.4 on Classic FM.

For the following recordings, hyperion-records.co.uk

• Vivaldi – The Four Seasons/Oprean
• Viotti & Fiorillo Violin Concertos/Oprean
• Concertos for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies/Aadland
• Haydn Violin Concertos/Oprean
• The Concerto in Europe/Demetriades
• The Symphony in Europe/Faerber

To divineartrecords.com/CD/25136info.htm for

MOZART – Serenades for Wind Instruments: Serenade in B flat major, K, 361 (“Gran Partita”), Serenade in E flat major, K.375/Mantas

To divineartrecords.com/CD/25128info.htm for

BACH – Piano Concertos BWV1052, 1054, 1056, 1058/Micallef /Schembri

And for something LIVE, try TCHAIKOVSKY’s Souvenir de Florence, directed by Hans-Peter & broadcast from Cheltenham Town Hall on BBC Radio 3

EDUCATION

Here are two educational videos

Photos of training projects in Granada (Spain),  Greshams School, Stroud and Southampton

WHY WE NEED THE SUPPORT OF FRIENDS