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 Wissam
Boustany
Amongst the Greatest
Flautists of our Time
Music allows us to see life through our hearts. Furthermore, it
allows us to contemplate the divine and seek to bring it into our
daily existence. It is also fun and (if you play) great exercise!
My flute has taken me to countless countries and has been the catalyst
to so many great friendships and deeds. Thanks for passing through
this website - we hope you will find it inspiring and effective
in revealing the wonderful projects that have been created, literally
out of "thin air". With the power of love, thin air that
enters my lungs is transformed into a catalyst for so many exciting
projects. This is the power of love, the power of music... (Wissam
Boustany)
Born
in Beirut on the 1st of October 1960, Wissam went to primary and
secondary school at the German School in Ras Beirut. He began his
music studies on the piano, aged eleven, at the National Conservatory
of Music but was not completely engaged by the piano.
Encouraged by his stepfather
Emile Noun, a violin professor and director of the Conservatory
orchestra, he took up the flute when aged twelve. The instrument
fascinated him and he wondered how ''a thin strand of air could
produce such harmony''. In 1977 he left Lebanon and the war to settle
with his family in Canada.
His parents, preferring
to be in Lebanon, returned there that same year, sending Wissam
alone to continue his music studies in Manchester at Chetham's School
of Music and then, in 1979, at the Royal Northern College of Music,
from which he graduated with the Professional Performer's Diploma.
He won several prestigious
prizes and performed brilliantly in many international competitions.
In 1978 he won second place in the BBC's Young Musician of the Year
Competition, woodwind section. In 1981 he was silver medalist in
the London Symphony Orchestra/Shell competition and in 1982, silver
medalist again in the Madeira International Flute Competition.
In 1997 he was awarded
the highest honor in Lebanon, Knight of the Order of the Cedar,
and in 1998 he received the Crystal Award at the World Economic
Forum in Davos.
Wissam Boustany is one
of the few rare flute soloists to have had such an outstanding musical
career. He draws record audiences to his concerts in Europe, the
Middle East, the Far East, and in North and South America. He also
gives Master classes in top musical institutes throughout the world,
most notably in the United Kingdom where he lives. In the UK, his
Master classes take him to the Royal Northern College of Music,
the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, Chetham's School of Music and
his main teaching base, the Trinity College of Music. He also organizes
music workshops in the United States, especially at U.C.L.A., Illinois
State University, the University of Northern Carolina and the University
of Santa Barbara.
One of the most notable
elements of his playing has been to introduce a modern style to
a classical repertoire, thus combining the modern and the traditional.
He has performed with
the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the London Symphony Orchestra,
the London Mozart Players, the London Bach Orchestra, the London
Soloists Chamber Orchestra and the English Symphony Orchestra.
The war in Lebanon left
an impact on Wissam's life and music and he founded the project
Towards Humanity, which uses music as a catalyst to support humanitarian
projects on an international scale. Thus, an association that brings
support to communities suffering from the tragedy of war, and bearing
the name of his project was born in 1995.
He is married
to Shermine, a Public Relations executive, and travels mainly by
motorcycle, his favorite pastime.
His
recordings include his interpretation of the following works:
Sounds from Within (Musica Attaca)
Wandering Winds (Towards Humanity)
Vivaldi's Children (Towards Humanity)
Beat Furrer Concerto (Deutsche Grammophon)
ll Viaggio a Rheims, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, conducted
by Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon)
Wissam
Boustany has also collaborated with many composers to produce contemporary
works:
Beat Furrer in Chamber
Concerto
Simon Holt in Miaistra
Boghos Gelalian in Quatre jeux
Walid Hourany in Lifecycle
David Anderson in A Fisherman's Flute
Alan Hoddinott in Nocturne and Caprice
Tarik Younis in Rising From the Ashes
Paul Read in Concerto
Peter Cowdrey in Land of the Prophets
Carl Witt in This Invisible World
Pierre Thilloy in Les Arbres aux étoiles
Houtaf Khoury in Miroir d'éternité
Dai Fujikura – Poison Mushroom
Michael Oliva – Fluid Cities
Shaun Bracey – Fragments of Hope
Contact:
editorial@onefineart.com
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