Paolo Bortolussi, DMA

Dr. Paolo Bortolussi is known as a passionate and provocative performer of a wide range of musical styles. Raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across Canada, the US and overseas. A specialist in contemporary music, Paolo is the founding flutist and co-director of the Nu:BC Collective, a new music and multimedia arts ensemble in residence at the University of British Columbia. To date he has premiered over one-hundred solo and chamber works, more than a twenty of which were written for him. The 2012/13 season will feature the premiere of a new flute concerto by Jocelyn Morlock commissioned by Paolo and the Vancouver Island Symphony with funds from the Canada Council for the Arts. 

Currently principal flutist with the Vancouver Island Symphony, Paolo has appeared as soloist with the VIS as well as the Albany (NY) Symphony and has performed with the Turning Point Ensemble, the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, The Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra, as well as the Vancouver and Victoria Symphony Orchestras, in addition to broadcasts on CBC and SRC radio. He is a featured soloist on Vancouver Visions, a Centredisc release of Canadian composer Stephen Chatman’s music as well as Mirages, a CD of chamber works by Dorothy Chang available through the Canadian Music Centre. 2012 will mark the release of Beyond Shadows, The Nu:BC Collective’s first CD featuring works by Dorothy Chang, Marc Mellits, and specially commissioned works by Brian Cherney and Chris Paul Harman.

A graduate of the University of Ottawa (B.Mus) and the Indiana University School of Music (M.Mus, D.M.A), he is in demand as a teacher and clinician, and serves on the music faculties of the University of British Columbia, where he co-directs the Contemporary Players Ensemble, as well as Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Trinity Western University.

• DMA (Indiana)
• M.Mus (Indiana)
• B.Mus (Ottawa)

Expertise

Flute