WISSAM BOUSTANY is 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. 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 prebmieres 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 Gramophone 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 Competitio"n. He was also the Silver Medalist 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.

IAN CLARKE is acknowledged as one of the leading player/composers in the flute world. His compositions have been performed across five continents on stages ranging from the South Bank to Glastonbury. These works are establishing themselves as some of the most exciting flute repertoire of today and are being embraced by internationally acclaimed performers, teachers, colleges & students alike.

Ian has performed as a guest soloist for the British Flute Society including the Third International Flute Convention, Manchester, as one of their ‘renowned artists’ at their 20th Century flute day in 2001 and appeared at the 2006 BFS international convention. He made his international debut as guest soloists at the NFA’s 2001 International Flute Convention, Dallas. Following on from this Ian was the guest artist at the 2003 Hungarian National Flute Event and a headline artist in the 2005 NFA convention in San Diego. He has given masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Northern and Trinity College of Music and has regularly been invited to perform & lead workshops for 'Flutewise' and numerous other flute events around the country. Ian has been a regular visitor to several of the leading Summer Schools. 2005 saw the release of his long awaited CD ‘WithinÉ’, now critically acclaimed and one of the flute world’s best sellers.

A prize-winning student, Ian studied with Simon Hunt, Averil Williams and Kate Lukas of the Guildhall School of Music, London. He concurrently studied Mathematics at Imperial College, London graduating with Honours. Ian is professor of flute at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Ian works extensively with musician/composer Simon Painter writing, producing and performing music for film & television under the name of Diva Music with numerous recordings between them and applications from Microsoft to Oprah Winfrey! - www.divamusic.co.uk

Ian is an International Miyazawa Flute Endorsee

RUTH MORLEY studied at RSAMD with David Nicholson and won a Wingate Scholarship to study at the RNCM with Peter Lloyd. She also studied with Wissam Boustany and Colin Lilley.

She has appeared at festivals in the UK and abroad as a soloist and chamber musician including the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, St Magnus Festival, Warwick Festival, Manchester Royal Exchange Concerts, British Flute Society International Convention, KEN and Le Weekend. Broadcasting work includes recitals for Radio 3, Radio Scotland and she has been a featured artist on Classic FM. She has recorded with the Scottish Flute Trio for Seven Things, Metier and Natural Studio Records. The Trio's latest recording of The Waterfall of Time by Joji Hirota was released in September 2010.

She appears regularly with pianist Scott Mitchell and percussionist Rhian Macleod, is a founder member of the Scottish Flute Trio and a member of the newly formed Red Note Ensemble. Ruth has a particular interest in contemporary music, and both as a soloist and chamber musician she has commissioned and premiered new work by many leading composers including Gordon McPherson, Thea Musgrave, Sally Beamish, Pippa Murphy, Edward McGuire, Joaquin Rodrigo, James MacMillan, Javier Alvarez, Joji Hirota, Robert Dick, Kenneth Dempster and Peter MGarr.

Ruth teaches at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and is the director of the Scottish International Flute Summer School.

LIS DOONER studied at the RSAMD with David Nicholson and at the Guildhall School of Music in London with William Bennett. She was subsequently awarded a Sir James Caird scholarship to continue her studies with William Bennett.

After completing her studies, Lis had a successful freelance career, playing with many London and regional orchestras. She was a member of Kent Opera orchestra and the City of London Sinfonia. An interest in period instruments led to involvement in projects with London Classical Players and the Academy of Ancient Music.

In 1988, Lis joined the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and has worked with many international conductors and soloists. She has taken part in chamber music activities and has been regularly involved in the SCO's education work, including the setting up of SCO laboratory music project, SCO LAB, a group of musicians interested in exploring new ways of creating music through working with a variety of musicians from different disciplines. This recently led to the opportunity to create a piece with Amjad Ali Khan, one of the world’s greatest sarod players. The SCO performed this piece in the St Magnus Festival and the City of London Festival in 2008 and then in six cities in India in February 2009.

As well as teaching baroque flute at the RSAMD, Lis has a busy private teaching practice in the Scottish Borders where she now lives. She also runs a flute group which performs regularly and commissions new works. They recently gave the first performance of The Whistlers Ballad, specially written for them by Alasdair Nicolson.

Since moving to the Borders, Lis has rekindled an interest in gardening and can often be found in local garden centres and nurseries!

Canadian flutist PATRICIA DYDNANSKY currently holds the position of Second Flute & Piccolo with the Niagara Symphony and teaches at Brock University and Ridley College. She is also an active freelance musician, often playing flute and piccolo in the Stratford Festival Orchestra, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic, Windsor Symphony, Orchestra London, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and various smaller ensembles in the Greater Toronto Area. Patricia has a Bachelor of Music (Music History & Theory) from McMaster University, a Master of Music (Performance) from the University of Western Ontario and a Postgraduate Diploma (Performance) from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. She has participated in the Professional Residency Program at the Banff Centre for the Arts and her teachers include Peter Lloyd, Patricia Morris, Paula Elliott, Camille Churchfield, Wissam Boustany and Ian Clarke.

Patricia has been a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and the National Academy Orchestra of the Boris Brott Music Festival. Recent summer activities include teaching woodwinds at the Niagara Symphony Summer Camp and being an active participant in the Scottish International Flute Summer School, held in St. Andrew's, Scotland.

Born in Paisley, YVONNE PATERSON began studying the flute with Sheena Gordon, at the Music School of Douglas Academy. In 2006 she graduated with a First Class Honours Degree from the Royal College of Music where she studied flute with Simon Channing and Paul-Edmund Davies and piccolo with Stewart McIlwham. She recently completed her Masters with Distinction on a full scholarship at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama studying with Alison Mitchell and Janet Richardson.

As a freelance musician, Yvonne has performed with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Northern Sinfonia and the Orchestra of Scottish Opera. She has played guest principal for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with whom she has also recorded and performed live for BBC Radio 3 and BBC4.

Competition and Scholarship successes include being a finalist in the 2009 Royal Over Seas League Wind, Brass and Percussion section, 2nd prize in the 2008 “Performing Australian Music Competition”, the RSAMD Governors’ Chamber Music Prize, the John McGregor Flute Prize for outstanding achievement, winner of the 2008 RSAMD Classical Concerto Competition, “Highly Commended” in the RSAMD Wind Governors’ Recital Competition, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Award, Dewar Arts Awards, the Earl of Dalhousie Award, the EMI Music Sound Foundation Award and the Sir James Caird Travelling Scholarship to travel to New York for lessons with Robert Dick.