Our Purpose
Our Mission
The purpose behind the music
The Vermont Fiddle Orchestra is dedicated to the preservation of our musical heritage exemplified through Vermont's mixed ancestral roots.
The VFO mission is to enable members to learn and play orchestral arrangements of traditional fiddle music through an organized program of rehearsals and performances, encouraging awareness and appreciation of fiddle music to both members and audiences.
Vermont's Mixed Ancestral Roots
Vermont's character has always been shaped by the people who settled and built it. French Canadians, Irish and Scottish immigrants, English settlers, Scandinavians, and many others each brought music with them — Québécois jigs and reels, Celtic ballads and hornpipes, New England contra dance tunes, Scandinavian polskas, Appalachian fiddle traditions. These traditions intertwined across generations, producing a musical heritage that is distinctly Vermont.
What This Looks Like
In practice, the mission means an orchestra open to players of all skill levels with no auditions. It means an organized season of weekly rehearsals concluding with a public concert. It means arrangements written to honor the original character of each tradition while giving every instrument and player a voice. And it means performances in parks, festivals, and concert halls that bring these sounds to audiences who may never have encountered them otherwise.