The Swedish Nose Flute Orchestra

The Sveriges Näsflöjts Orkester is a virtual orchestra of almost 40.000 members. It was created in 2006 as a tribute to David Gouthro, founder of the (now defunct) Vancouver Nose Flute Ensemble, and with his participation, with a double goal : (virtually) gather nose flute players all around Sweden and create a commercial buzz for the launching of a new nasal spray : Zycomb.

« Since we did not have the financial resources market leaders have at their disposal, we chose to try to create commitment. By using PR and the internet, we launched the Sweden Noseflute Orchestra (SNOR) with the help of David Gouthro, founder of the Vancouver Noseflute Ensemble. »

But the vision includes a part of philosophy. For Gouthro, nose flute playing is a metaphore of taking advantage and growing from a failure. David Gouthro is a consultant in management who uses the nose flute to teach his clients this philosophy. On the Vancouver Noseflute Ensemble website, he wrote :

« The Vancouver Noseflute Ensemble (VNE) is a virtual organization (or should that be 'virtually an organization'?) with a passion for encouraging anyone who wishes to learn and grow-particularly when there is a risk of making mistakes. »

« The VNE uses the Noseflute (a musical) as a physical metaphor for life! "You learn faster if you're willing to blow it" this is true of the Noseflute and any other opportunity for growth. »

Even if you are not attracted by the "serious side" of the nose flute, you'll find great videos on the site.

The Sveriges Näsflöjts Orkester website in Swedish
The Swedish Nose Flute Orchestra website translated by Google
The multimedia page, with lots of videos and music.

The Vancouver Noseflute Ensemble website
Zycomb Commercial videos featuring David Gouthro.