European Union Baroque Orchestra

History

EUBO was founded in 1985 as a major initiative of European Music Year to celebrate the 300th anniversaries of three great baroque musicians: Johann Sebastian Bach, Domenico Scarlatti and George Frideric Handel. Since then, more than 600 full-time members of EUBO have given over 900 performances in 54 countries worldwide.

The orchestra performs at many of Europe’s finest music festivals and concert halls, including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, St John's Smith Square in London, the festivals Bachwoche Ansbach, and specialist early music festivals in Utrecht, York, Brugge, Valletta and London. Outside Europe, as well as tours to Japan, United States and South Africa, EUBO has played in less favoured parts of the world such as Ramallah and the Gaza Strip, Botswana, and Soweto.

Structure and funding

The European Union Baroque Orchestra is an educational charity registered in England & Wales with its administrative office in Wootton, Oxfordshire.

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 concert tours which take the talented young orchestra to all corners of Europe. Members of EUBO gain performing experience, working together under the inspirational leadership of Music Director Lars Ulrik Mortensen and some of the world’s finest baroque musicians. Ton Koopman, Margaret Faultless, Roy Goodman, Enrico Onofri, Rachel Podger, Paul Agnew, Gottfried von der Goltz, Alfredo Bernardini, Sergio Azzolini and Amandine Beyer are amongst the artists who regularly work with EUBO.

EUBO is partnered by nine European organisations within a co-operation project ‘EUBO Mobile Baroque Academy’ with co-funding from the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. The project addresses the unequal provision across the EU of baroque music education and performance in new and creative ways. EUBO has been honoured with the status of Cultural Ambassador for the European Union in perpetuity. EUBO is supported by The Early Music Shop.

Since 2008, EUBO has been Orchestra-in-Residence in Echternach, Luxembourg, working together with the City of Echternach, Festival International Echternach and the cultural centre Trifolion. EUBO’s residency in Echterach and the Echter’Barock series of concerts are made possible by grants from the City of Echternach and the Ministry of Culture in Luxembourg.

Discography