One of only a few flutists to have launched a successful career as an international soloist, Wissam Boustany is a performer who inspires audiences with his energetic and communicative music-making. His flute has taken him on numerous tours to Europe, the Middle-East, Far East, USA and Latin America, where he continues to present many concerts, master-classes and workshops. He embraces a wide repertoire, and has developed a keen interest in introducing the music of today within the context of imaginative program planning, which combines the innovative with the traditional. Amongst the composers who have written for him: Beat Furrer, Alun Hoddinott, Simon Holt, Tarek Younis, Carl Witt and Boghos Gelalian. He has also given the world premieres of Paul Reade's Concerto, Walid Howrani's Life Cycle, Peter Cowdrey's Land of the Prophets and Carl Witt's This Invisible World. As an orchestral musician, Wissam Boustany was closely associated with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in the early 1980s, with whom he appeared as soloist on the award winning Deutsche Grammophone recording of 'Il Viaggio a Rheims'. Three solo CDs are currently also available: Wandering Winds, Sounds from Within and Vivaldi's Children.

Born in Lebanon, Wissam Boustany began his musical studies in Beirut with his stepfather. He moved to Britain in 1977 where he studied at Chetham's School of Music & the Royal Northern College of Music. He has received many awards, notably the Silver Medal in the 1982 Madeira International Flute Competition and (in the same year) the woodwind prize in the Royal Overseas League Competition. He was also the Silver Medallist in the Shell/LSO Competition and won the 2nd prize in the woodwind section of the first 'BBC Young Musician of the Year'.

His experience of the war in Lebanon greatly influenced his outlook on Life and Music, and he seeks to promote the ideal of Peace wherever his flute takes him. He has started "TOWARDS HUMANITY", a multi-decade initiative using music as a catalyst to help heal the violence in many parts of the world, which was inaugurated at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in February 1995. TOWARDS HUMANITY works closely with charities and institutions in areas suffering from the tragedy of war, exposing their cultures and creativity rather than the more shameful qualities of mankind. Wissam Boustany's communicative, energetic and sincere music making have inspired many audiences and musicians around the world.

'...His tone at all levels was full and unforced, his phrasing instinctively Mozartian and his fast passage work in the cadenzas was a sheer delight...' Daily Telegraph (July 1983)

'...The colourful Lebanese Flautist Wissam Boustany certainly stole the show from the audience's point of view with his suave, high profile account of Mozart's Flute Concerto...' The Guardian (July 1983)

'...The young Lebanese Flautist Wissam Boustany rewarded his large audience not just with exceptional sleight of hand, as in the firefly Scherzo of Widor's Suite Op.34, but also with a rare exuberance of musical personality and determination to transcend the instrument's expressive limitations...' The Times (Jan 1984)

'...A vibrant performer and brilliant technician...achieving a strong rapport with his audience through his intense will to communicate...'Daily Telegraph (March 1984)

'...Prokofiev's D major Sonata Op.94 which showed the partnership of Mr Boustany and Russell Lomas at its excellent best, the Scherzo and Finale dispatched with great aplomb, the opening moderato and slow movement marked by truthful balance and sensitive playing...'Daily Telegraph (Aug 1984)

'...The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, mainly English, played well; its flutist was a star...' International Herald Tribune (Aug 1984)

'...One remarkable aspect of his performance is that he engages his own attention - and therefore that of his audience - from the very first note of each piece and having done so, that concentration wavers not a jot until the final bar line...'Yorkshire Post (Aug 1984)

'...Mr Boustany projected the big-boned music with energy and colour, covering a wide dynamic and expressive range. The brilliance and sonorous weight of his playing was also perfectly attuned to Martinu's First Sonata, enabling him to create a fine sense of open-air elevation in the slow movement and bring a sparkling, dancing spirit to the finale whose impetus was irresistably sustained...'Daily Telegraph (Jan 1985)

'...He reacts with precise sensitivity to the orchestral texture and is able to give the impression of overflowing spontaneity...'The Guardian (Jan 1985)

'...I imagine that many flautists will want to follow Wissam Boustany in playing it (Paul Reade's Concerto for Flute & Strings), provided that they can bring to it his outstanding ability and musicianship...'Daily Telegraph (Jan 1985)

'...He possesses the most powerful will to communicate allied to a brilliant technique, generating a palpable electricity...'Daily Telegraph (May 1985)

'...But most notable among them was undoubtedly the extraordinarily fluent and forthright young flautist Wissam Boustany, who, in terms of expressive power, defies the bounds imposed by his chosen instrument...'Daily Telegraph (Aug 1987)

'...What gave the concert its golden glow was the superb soloist Wissam Boustany. This Lebanese/British artist seems to command all the finesse required to bring a piece to perfection....He made every note, every phrase come alive with musical intensity. His total mastery of the scores enabled him to communicate his intentions to the orchestra and elicit their response...'Vasabladet, Finland (May 1992)

'...This time the orchestra's soloist was one of the greatest....Wissam Boustany belongs to the instrumental elite....Wissam Boustany lives through his music...'Ilkka, Finland (May 1992)

'...He is a consummate showman with an impressive command of his instrument; his love of life shines through everything he does. His playing is not simply technically dazzling, every note comes from the heart and speaks to the heart. It is not often that one finds a world-class musician and a world-class humanitarian combined in the same person; it was a delight and a privilege to be present at his recital...'Times Colonist, Victoria, Canada (July 1996)

'Wissam Boustany plays the flute like a singer uses his voice. The expression radiates outwards from within, leaving the audience hypnotised by the sheer charisma and energy of his playing' Arts Focus, Aberdeen, Scotland (November 1997)

Towards Humanity

Wissam Boustany's Website (UK)

Email Wissam

31May 2004