The Embassy of Lebanon and Societatea Muzicala brought, for the first time in Bucharest, Wissam Boustany (flute) and Aleksander Szram (piano). The Concert is organized on the occasion of the National Day of The Republic of Lebanon.
The concert took place on 22nd of November, at 19.00h, at the „George Enescu” Concert Hall of the National University of Music from Bucharest (Conservator).
Programme:
- Johann Nepomuk Hummel – Sonata in D
- Wissam Boustany – Broken Child*
- Wissam Boustany – And The Wind Whispered*
- Wissam Boustany – Future Blossom*
- Béla Bartók – Suite Paysanne
* first performance in Romania
Wissam Boustany – Flute
”Music opens the doors of inspiration between people and nations and helps us reflect on our common humanity.”
One of only a few flautists 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.
During Wissam’s brief orchestral career he was principle of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (under Claudio Abbado) in the early 1980s, with whom he appeared as soloist on the award winning Deutsche Grammophone recording of ‘Il Viaggio a Rheims’. He also freelanced with the London Symphony Orchestra and other orchestras in London.
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’.
Awards and Competitions:
- 1998 The Crystal Award Presented at the World Economic Forum – Davos, Switzerland
- 1997 National Order of the Cedar, Knighthood (Chevalier de l’order du Cèdre) Awarded by the Lebanese Government
- 1982 Madeira International Flute Competition – silver medallist
- 1981 London Symphony Orchestra/Shell Competition – silver medallist
- 1978 BBC Young Musician of the Year – 2nd Prize, woodwind section
Aleksander Szram – Piano
Winner of the 2004 Vlado Perlemuter Award, Aleksander has played in more than forty countries over six continents. He is known for his devotion to contemporary music, having worked with Rzewski, Wolff, Runswick, Smalley, Fujikura, Kittos, Hesketh and others, and recorded for the Nimbus, Métier, Prima Facie and MMC labels.
Born in Southampton of Polish parents, he has been playing the piano since the age of five. Aleksander teaches piano and lectures in performance practice and analysis at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and enjoys a varied schedule of solo piano, concerto and chamber-music performances across the world. He is one of few pianists who regularly play chamber music from memory.
