Bravo! Vail opens Thursday with Chamber Orchestra of Europe debut

It was meant to happen years ago. Anne-Marie McDermott had been following the Chamber Orchestra of Europe since the mid-1990s and, after becoming Bravo! Vail Music Festival’s artistic director in 2011, promoted the idea of bringing the group to Vail. A residency was finally set in place for June 2020, only to be canceled by the pandemic. At last, the 60-piece Chamber Orchestra of Europe is making its long-awaited Bravo! Vail debut for a three-concert residency on June 19, 21, and 22, opening the 38th season of the festival this weekend.

Founded in 1981, the internationally renowned ensemble is composed of principals or section leaders from national orchestras, members of eminent chamber groups, and music educators.

The orchestra started with a group of musicians who were members of the European Community Youth Orchestra in the late 1970s. In its early days, they worked with the star conductors Claudio Abbado and, later, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, with whom the ensemble developed further and recorded a full set of the Beethoven symphonies. The orchestra is still known today for its partnerships with important conductors and soloists. More recently, it has worked with the leading conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin — their recording of the Brahms symphonies was released last year — Simon Rattle, and Matthias Pintscher, and with the pianist-conductor András Schiff. “It’s one of these ensembles about which word spreads quickly because of its extraordinary level of music-making,” McDermott said.

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