A French composer, conductor and flutist born June 20, 1942 in Roubaix.
A poly-instrumentalist, Bernard Wystraëte studied in particular the flute, conducting and composition at the Roubaix Conservatory and the Paris Conservatory, as well as musicology at the University of Paris 8.
A virtuoso of the transverse flutes, notably bass and octobass, he is solo flautist of the Orchestre de la Comédie Française and a soloist for Radio France, in permanent collaboration with the Atelier de Création Radiophonique of France Culture. He also records the works of leading composers of film music such as Michel Legrand, Maurice Jarre, Georges Delerue, Francis Laï and Jean-Claude Petit.
As an eclectic, Wystraëte is equally interested in classical music, free jazz, Brazilian music, the music of the Andes and of India as well as the French chanson. He is the composer and conductor for Marie Laforêt, the arranger and accompanist of Cora Vaucaire and Nicole Croisille.
As a composer, he has found distinction in various domains: film and ballet music, incidental music, opera for children, musicals, instrumental pedagogy and concert music. Among his works are Artcelta for Celtic harp, piccolo, C, alto and bass flutes, first performed by the composer with Denise Mégevand for Radio France (1987); Mundo nuevo,an opera to a libretto by Cristina Delume first performed in Sevran in 1994; Floromontane, a sound and light show, premiered by the ensemble Musique au Pluriel at the Festival de la Norma (1995); Tangueando 99 for strings, woodwind, guitar, bandoneon, piano, premiered by the Groupe Intervalles at the Maison de la Musique in Nanterre (1999); La Plaine blème for octobass flute, accordion, guitar and voice, first performed at the Festival des Trois Forêts in Compiègne (2007); Feixe de Estrelas for 6 female voices, 6 male voices and octobass flute, first performed by the ensemble Soli Tutti and Bernard Wystraëte at the Théâtre de l’Opprimé in Paris (2009); Ode au dieu Râma for voice, bansuri and bass flutes, violin, sitar and tablas, first performance at the festival Scènes en Nord (2014); Flutasyrinx for dancer and flute, first performed at the Théâtre de l’Opprimé in Paris (2015).