Why the European Union Baroque Orchestra Matters
July 3, 2026
What makes the European Union Baroque Orchestra so important?
A career in music requires practice and talent, curiosity and study, enthusiasm and discipline. All of these qualities matter, but what ties them together? Experience. Experience helps musicians understand how different aspects of playing and making music affect their own performance, their colleagues, and ultimately their audience.
For a young professional musician, gaining that experience can be one of the greatest challenges. Yet without it, opportunities to perform are often difficult to find. This is precisely where the European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO) plays a unique role. It offers recent graduates and advanced students specialising in early music the opportunity to acquire invaluable professional experience. Working alongside distinguished tutors and experienced colleagues at the highest artistic level, while performing in a wide variety of venues across Europe, provides an education that simply cannot be replicated elsewhere. That is why EUBO remains one of the most important institutions in the world of early music.
The orchestra also forms an important part of my own musical journey. I was EUBO's harpsichordist in 2009, and it remains one of the most significant experiences of both my career and my life. I learned an enormous amount about repertoire, orchestral playing, historical instruments and performance practice. Above all, however, I learned what it truly means to make music professionally. At that stage of my career, there was simply nowhere else I could have gained experience of that kind.
One of EUBO's greatest strengths is that the orchestra is assembled anew every year from Europe's most promising young early music performers. Within just a few weeks, these musicians develop into an outstanding ensemble that performs at major European festivals and concert halls under the guidance of internationally renowned directors and soloists. The combination of youthful enthusiasm, exceptional skill and world-class artistic mentoring creates an extraordinary environment for inspiring—and often genuinely joyful—music-making.
Many musicians now performing with Europe's leading period orchestras have followed exactly this path through EUBO. A concert by this orchestra is therefore much more than just another performance. It is an opportunity to hear the next generation of leading early music specialists at the very moment when their international careers are taking flight.
The mission of BarokkiKuopio is, of course, to present concerts. But we also want to build a community and create an environment where the next generation of early music musicians can grow, learn and find their place on the international stage. Projects such as EUBO are outstanding examples of exactly that.
Both BarokkiKuopio and I are proud to bring this remarkable ensemble to Finland. If you have the chance, come and hear EUBO in Kuopio or Helsinki. Opportunities like this are rare. Here you can experience outstanding young musicians from across Europe, internationally acclaimed mentors, remarkable musical energy, and the excitement of discovery that exists only when everything is still new and the future is full of possibilities.
Don't miss this rare opportunity.
Come and discover what the future of early music sounds like.
Helsinki, July 3, 2026
Matias Häkkinen
Artistic Director, Ensemble Nylandia and the BarokkiKuopio Festival
EUBO concerts in Kuopio and Helsinki, 19–20 July 2026
You can also read some of my own memories from my EUBO years on the Amfion blog (in finnish).
(This blog text was originally posted in finnish here.)
July 3, 2026
What makes the European Union Baroque Orchestra so important?
A career in music requires practice and talent, curiosity and study, enthusiasm and discipline. All of these qualities matter, but what ties them together? Experience. Experience helps musicians understand how different aspects of playing and making music affect their own performance, their colleagues, and ultimately their audience.
For a young professional musician, gaining that experience can be one of the greatest challenges. Yet without it, opportunities to perform are often difficult to find. This is precisely where the European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO) plays a unique role. It offers recent graduates and advanced students specialising in early music the opportunity to acquire invaluable professional experience. Working alongside distinguished tutors and experienced colleagues at the highest artistic level, while performing in a wide variety of venues across Europe, provides an education that simply cannot be replicated elsewhere. That is why EUBO remains one of the most important institutions in the world of early music.
The orchestra also forms an important part of my own musical journey. I was EUBO's harpsichordist in 2009, and it remains one of the most significant experiences of both my career and my life. I learned an enormous amount about repertoire, orchestral playing, historical instruments and performance practice. Above all, however, I learned what it truly means to make music professionally. At that stage of my career, there was simply nowhere else I could have gained experience of that kind.
One of EUBO's greatest strengths is that the orchestra is assembled anew every year from Europe's most promising young early music performers. Within just a few weeks, these musicians develop into an outstanding ensemble that performs at major European festivals and concert halls under the guidance of internationally renowned directors and soloists. The combination of youthful enthusiasm, exceptional skill and world-class artistic mentoring creates an extraordinary environment for inspiring—and often genuinely joyful—music-making.
Many musicians now performing with Europe's leading period orchestras have followed exactly this path through EUBO. A concert by this orchestra is therefore much more than just another performance. It is an opportunity to hear the next generation of leading early music specialists at the very moment when their international careers are taking flight.
The mission of BarokkiKuopio is, of course, to present concerts. But we also want to build a community and create an environment where the next generation of early music musicians can grow, learn and find their place on the international stage. Projects such as EUBO are outstanding examples of exactly that.
Both BarokkiKuopio and I are proud to bring this remarkable ensemble to Finland. If you have the chance, come and hear EUBO in Kuopio or Helsinki. Opportunities like this are rare. Here you can experience outstanding young musicians from across Europe, internationally acclaimed mentors, remarkable musical energy, and the excitement of discovery that exists only when everything is still new and the future is full of possibilities.
Don't miss this rare opportunity.
Come and discover what the future of early music sounds like.
Helsinki, July 3, 2026
Matias Häkkinen
Artistic Director, Ensemble Nylandia and the BarokkiKuopio Festival
EUBO concerts in Kuopio and Helsinki, 19–20 July 2026
You can also read some of my own memories from my EUBO years on the Amfion blog (in finnish).
(This blog text was originally posted in finnish here.)
