Alan Weiss

Alan Weiss is an acclaimed flutist with extensive international experience as a performer, teacher, and flute historian. He is currently the co-owner of VintageFluteShop.com, a world-class enterprise specializing in the highest quality antique instruments and pre-owned modern flutes suitable for players, collectors, and museums. Mr. Weiss was the Artist-in-Residence for the William S. Haynes Co. where he was also a Haynes Artist for over one and a half decades.

Mr. Weiss studied flute with Phillip Kaplan, James Pappoutsakis, and Julius Baker. He has performed with many noted musicians on chamber music series and ensembles including the Boston Pops Orchestra. Weiss was the principal and solo flutist of the Virginia (Norfolk) Symphony and co-principal flutist of the Boston Classical Orchestra.

Internationally, Mr. Weiss served as flutist with the Mexico City Philharmonic, the State Orchestra of Mexico, and the Iceland National Symphony. In 1995, he performed a highly acclaimed European solo debut with the Romanian Radio Orchestra and received major media coverage with high praise. The Bucharest Romania newspaper Cortidianul described his accomplished performance as evidence of “a true master of the American school of wind playing.” He is recognized for his “attractive and individual tone” (Boston Globe) and “ease of playing with warm expression” (Actualitea Muzicala-Romania). Other critics have described him as “excellent and distinguished” (Boston Phoenix), “spectacular performer” (Tineretul Liber-Romania) and a “fine musician” (Virginia Ledger Star).

Alan Weiss has premiered numerous compositions, notably those of Philip Glass. These performances were broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR) and excerpts used for the soundtrack of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) film Edgar Allan Poe. Weiss is the first American flutist to perform or record in concerto with the renowned George Enescu Bucharest Philharmonic since its inception of 1868. In 2001, Weiss’s compact disc for Albany Records with harpsichordist Mark Kroll (sponsored in part by a grant from the Aaron Copland Foundation) featured premier recordings of works of Robert Starer and Lester Trimble. Gramophone Magazine reviewed in its November 2001 issue, “Flautist Alan Weiss plays with appropriate understated eloquence.”

Mr. Weiss has also recorded for the Golden Tone, Carlton Classics, and Dorian labels. Alan's performance at the first China international flute festival in 2004 can be seen on DVD published by Classic Musicale of China. A former flute and chamber music professor for a decade at the Boston University College for the Arts, Weiss is also a highly regarded teacher. His students have won prestigious positions in professional orchestras and competitions. Some of his outstanding students include: Guoliang Han, principal flutist China National Symphony and Professor of Flute, Beijing Central Conservatory; Jeanne Carere, principal flutist Atlanta Ballet; Grammy-nominated flutist and composer Valerie Coleman of the ensemble Imani Winds; Vasco Gouveia, prize-winner of the Maria Canals Competition and acclaimed Portuguese performer and teacher; and Heather Holden of the award-winning Arc Duo. Alan had the privilege of performing chamber music with the renowned violinist Roman Totenberg, the Boston Symphony principal oboist Ralph Gomberg.

Mr. Weiss was the Director of Chamber Music and Young Artists Orchestra Program as well as a flute instructor for the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Alan was an artist-in-residence at the 2000 Schubert International Music Festival and Competition (Ovada, Italy) and has performed at the Santander Music Festival (Spain). In 2003, Mr. Weiss performed solo alto flute with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s premier of Tod Machover’s Toy Symphony in New York City and in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 2005, he presented solo performances with the Nashua (NH) Chamber Orchestra and the Boston Classical Orchestra. In 2007, Alan gave his Japan debut in Tokyo’s DAC Recital Hall with world-renowned flutist Shigenori Kudo. In recent years, Alan has had the privilege of performing in concert with a number of renowned flutist colleagues including: Sir James Galway, Claudi Arimany, Jean-Louis Beaumadier, Kathleen Chastain, Michel Debost, Paul Edmund-Davies, Juergen Franz, Hans-Udo Heinzmann, Paul Fried, Lady Jeanne Galway, Gaspar Hoyos, Shigenori Kudo, Horacio Parravicini, Nobutaka Shimizu, and Juan Jesus Silguero.

In 2010, Alan recorded his latest CD (also available as a DVD) with acclaimed flutist Paul Fried and pianist Bryan Pezzone entitled “Virtuoso Flute Trios” on the Golden Tone label. The Fall 2011 issue of the periodical “Flutist Quarterly” reviewed, “This CD is filled with variety, sonority, and style performed with elegance and sensitivity by two marvelous masters of the flute…”

In 2012, he gave a masterclass for the Imani Chamber Winds Summer Festival in Lincoln Center, New York City. He was inducted as a member of the Caballeros del Traversos, Spain’s most exclusive and illustrious flute society.

In 2014, Alan performed with Claudi Arimany the double flute concerti of Vivaldi and Doppler which received great critical acclaim in the Boston Globe. He also performed twice with Sir James Galway in Georgia and Switzerland. Most recently he was invited to perform at a special concert honoring James Galway which was broadcast internationally over WQXR New York City. He performed with James Galway as well and members of the New York Philharmonic flute section.

Alan Weiss performs on several modern custom-crafted 14K gold flutes: one with a Rampal style headjoint by the late Lewis Deveau, and the other with a custom-made headjoint personally created by the great maker Ranier Lafin of Germany. He also performs on 19th century Louis Lot flutes and has an in-depth knowledge and passion of antique French flutes and their history. He has been happily married to the talented and beautiful oboist Ann Rosandich since 1986.