WISSAM BOUSTANY

MASTERCLASSES

Wissam Boustany has established an international career as a concert artist and teacher touring South/North America, Europe and the Middle/Far East. His flute courses, titled In Search of Inspiration, have motivated young and mature musicians alike, and he now teaches at Trinity College of Music.

Non-Competitive: Wissam's teaching is highly intense, yet essentially non-competitive. He seeks to create the opportunity for students to explore and develop their individual inner talent and potential, leading to increased creativity and confidence in performance.

Performance Skills: His classes offer the chance to begin defining the role of the 'performing musician'. An inspired definition of this role leads to deeper understanding of the challenges of building a career and of successfully communicating music to audiences.

Memory: Wissam is a keen advocate of performing the solo and recital repertoire from memory, as a means to learning and communicating the music deeply. Memory also serves as a solid foundation for solving the many technical challenges of playing the flute. Wissam's vivid and inspiring descriptions have empowered many young flutists to adopt this as their "minimum personal standard of performance".

Improvisation: This is a very important discipline for classically trained musicians to learn. Improvisation is used as a method of practice, leading to an improved and more natural sound and a deeper understanding of rhythm, phrasing, colour, freedom of expression and flexibility in music-making.

Breathing: The ability to breath in harmony with the music is of fundamental importance - after all, breathing is the catalyst to the sounds flute players create. Wissam uses simple and natural ways to discover this, always using the music itself, rather than objective exercises.

Technique through Inventiveness: Wherever possible, Wissam encourages students to invent their own methods for achieving their aims. The creative process is about learning to ask the right questions, as a means to solving various challenges - after that, the process of consolidation (memory) takes its course.

Career Advice: Discussing short/mid/long term aims is important. Wissam is always happy to brainstorm with flutists wanting some feedback. This often leads to a clearer sense of direction and structure in the student's work.

Budgets/proposals: Wissam is also happy to give advice regarding the process of putting together projects (one-off events, touring, putting together recordings, humanitarian work etc).