The creative partnership the EUYO enjoys with the excellent Accademia Stauffer in Cremona, Italy, is now in its fourth year. Our December 2024 residency brought together EUYO string players with members of Stauffer’s renowned Concertmaster Course and two world-class tutors: Andrea Obiso, Leader of the Santa Cecilia National Academy Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris, and Gregor Horsch, Principal Cello of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Neither Andrea nor Gregor are strangers to the EUYO; Andrea was a guest Leader and Violin I tutor in 2023, while Gregor is a regular cello tutor.

2023’s Stauffer programme explored Arnold Schoenberg’s seminal Verklärte Nacht, and 2024’s Residency also focused on great twentieth-century repertoire: Benjamin Britten’s Simple Symphony (1934) written when the composer was just 20, followed by Paul Hindemith’s Five Pieces for String Orchestra (1927) and Ernst von Dohnányi’s Serenade in C major (1902), in its transcription for string orchestra. The Residency culminated in a special concert, free of charge, at the Chamber of Commerce on 13 December.

More good news: we do not have to wait until next December to return to the Accademia Stauffer! A further project is planned for March 2025, working with Kolja Blacher.