The Finnish Flute Association

The Finnish Flute Association ry (Suomen Huiluseura - SHS ry) was founded on the 17th of April, 1983 in Tampere. The purpose of the Association, as spelled out in it's charter, is to promote and develop all aspects of flute playing in Finland: to awaken a love of flute playing, organize concerts, develop ties between members, and to create links with other societies both in Finland and abroad sharing similar goals. The Association organizes concerts and other performance opportunities, sponsors competitions, masterclasses, and exhibitions, and publishes a magazine ('Huilisti' - 'Flutist' ) as well as other flute-related publications.

The Finnish Flute Association has at present approx. 400 members. Members include flute teachers, orchestral players, students and amateur flutists, and the following honorary members: Aurele Nicolet (1981), Albert Cooper ( 1983), Hans-Peter Schmitz (1985), Jean-Pierre Rampal (1988), Patrick Gallois (2008), Juho Alvas, William Dyer (2004) and Herbert Lindholm (2006), Hannu Lehtinen and Ilari Lehtinen (2008).

Merikarvia, a small community on Finland's western shore is the official home of the Association, and has played host to the Association's pedagogic weekends and young player's flute orchestra camps for the past two years. In addition to these annual weekends, the Association arranges events in other parts of the country in conjunction with their official yearly meeting.

The Finnish Flute Association has a music library, located in Tampere, and publishes four magazines a year for it's members: two issues of the 'Huilisti' magazine, and two of the smaller 'Huilisti-info'.