François Borne (1840-1920) was a French flautist, composer, and professor. Though there is not much information available about his life, it is known that he was born in Toulouse, France. He likely worked closely with French pedagogue and flutist Paul Taffanel at some point in his life, but it is unclear whether that was as a student or a colleague. Borne worked as a flautist in the opera orchestra at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux and taught at the Conservatoire de Musique de Toulouse. He was born just as the modern Boehm flute was developed, allowing him to become its champion. He is attributed with making modifications to Boehm’s instrument in order to increase its technical possibilities, and he also wrote music that allowed performers to showcase the flute’s new capabilities. With more ease of technique and greater quality and volume of sound, more virtuosic and expressive music was available to the instrument. One such example is Borne’s Fantasie Brillante on Themes from Bizet's Carmen, which presents and varies some of the most popular music from Bizet’s famous opera. There is little else known about Borne’s life; nonetheless, flautists will always thank Borne for his contributions to both the instrument and to the instrument’s Romantic era repertoire.