He was considered one of the world's best flute players of the late twentieth century.
A number of composers wrote music especially for him, including Josef Tal, Tōru Takemitsu, György Ligeti, Krzysztof Meyer, and Edison Denisov.
His pupils include Emmanuel Pahud, Carlos Bruneel, Michael Faust, Pedro Eustache, Thierry Fischer, Irena Grafenauer, Huáscar Barradas, Kristiyan Koev, Jadwiga Kotnowska, Robert Langevin, Tom Ottar Andreassen, Marina Piccinini, Kaspar Zehnder and Ariel Zuckermann.
He died at the age of 90 in 2016[1] in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
In 1948 he won First Prize at Geneva International Music Competition.