RCM musicians join Chamber Orchestra of Europe Academy following collaborative project

Thursday 18 October 2018

Three Royal College of Music musicians have been accepted onto the prestigious Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) Academy programme following the latest visit to the College by the COE players. David Lopez (violin), Imogen Royce (flute) and Philip Nelson (double bass) will join the orchestra on tour and receive individual lessons and coaching from the COE principals.

The RCM welcomed three members of the COE to the College for its 2018 autumn season: violinist Mats Zetterqvist, trumpeter Nicholas Thompson and clarinettist Romain Guyot. They joined the RCM Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Brahms’ Symphony no 2 on 5 October and led several inspiring masterclasses featuring talented RCM musicians.

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Mats Zetterqvist, who led the RCM Chamber Orchestra in Brahms' second symphony, commented: 'Working with the young musicians of the RCM is always most rewarding. This year's chosen work was the most demanding piece we have worked on so far as part of the partnership between the Royal College of Music and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. It was very hard to make the selection for the COE Academy programme, as many of the players were of a high standard. As a result, instead of two students, we granted three places on the programme!'

The COE Academy was created in 2009 to give a select group of exceptional students the chance to study with the principal players of the COE and to travel on tour with the orchestra. The Academy programme aims to equip participants with experience, understanding and inspiration through the COE’s unique artistic and European ethos and passion for making music.

More information about the COE Academy can be found here.