The First Lady of Lebanon awarding Wissam his knighthood in 1997
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 (Schedule). 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, Boghos Gelalian, Houtaf Khoury, David Sutton Anderson, Shaun Bracey, Peter Cowdrey and Dai Fujikura. 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, with a fourth CD featuring the Khatchaturian Concerto due out very soon.
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'.
Wissam's experiences of the war in Lebanon greatly influenced his outlook on both Life and Music. He founded Towards Humanity, a multi-decade international initiative working with musicians and charities helping communities suffering from the tragedies of war - a project which was inaugurated at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in February 1995. In 1997 he was awarded a knighthood by the Lebanese government (Chevalier de l'Ordre du Cedre) in recognition of his music and peace work. On 3rd February 1998 he was presented with the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Wissam continues to use his music as a powerful healing force to open the doors of inspiration between people and nations, and help us reflect on our common humanity. He recently stood stood down from Trinity College of Music, where he taught for ten years, to become Chairman of the British Flute Society.
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