International Flute Orchestra – Tour of Poland
The International Flute Orchestra (formerly the American Flute Orchestra) was founded in 1995. Flute orchestras today are similar to what string orchestras were 150 years ago; where string orchestras include basses, cellos, violas, and violins, flute orchestras include piccolos, e-flat flutes, alto flutes, basses, contrabasses, and double contrabass flutes.
Currently, the IFO consists of 36 members all of whom auditioned for the position from numerous countries, including university professors throughout the US. Canada, Spain and others.
The IFO performs in a different country every year across Europe, Latin America and Asia. European countries visited to date include England, Ireland, France, Austria, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Latvia, Estonia and Greece. IFO has also played in Russia, Chile and China.
In 2009, the IFO toured Poland, where it played in five cities across the country, including Warsaw, Krakow, Gdansk and Zakopane, in ten days. In this tour, the IFO venues included performance halls, concert halls and churches. At the end of each performance, the IFO also invited the audiences to play the various instruments/flutes of the orchestra.
HTSE and Grisons Peak helped sponsor the IFO Poland tour due to the combined interest in the CEE region as well as the involvement in music at the community and church levels throughout all the performances of the tour.
