Flutist Paolo Bortolussi is a soloist, chamber artist, and new music pioneer. Dedicated to championing music by living composers, he has premiered over 250 works for flute, including concerti written for him by Dorothy Chang, Jocelyn Morlock, Jian Ping Tang and Aaron Gervais. Paolo is co-artistic director of the Nu:BC Collective, which has performed at festivals across Canada, the US and Asia, and has premiered works by many of Canada’s leading composers. Beyond Shadows, Nu:BC’s debut CD, as well as Paolo’s solo release Israfel have received multiple nominations at the Western Canadian Music Awards.

Paolo is principal flutist and New Music Advisor for the Vancouver Island Symphony where he was the driving force behind the Canadian Concerto Project, which commissioned, premiered, and recorded five new concerti by Canadian composers. The resulting album A Quinary includes Jocelyn Morlock’s flute concerto Ornithomancy, and was nominated for 4 Western Canadian Music Awards. Paolo was also the soloist for the premiere recording of Dorothy Chang’s JUNO-nominated flute concerto Flight on the Soaring Spirits CD with the UBC Symphony Orchestra.

Raised in Halifax, Bortolussi is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and the Indiana University School of Music (MM, DMA). He is Lecturer of flute, chamber music, and directs the Contemporary Players Ensemble at the University of British Columbia School of Music. Paolo and has presented masterclasses across North America as well as in Korea and Taiwan, and is in demand as a clinician and adjudicator.

WATCH: Paolo Bortolussi and Corey Hamm perform 11 Pieces for Flute & Piano by Marc Mellits