‘Phenomenal musicality, no less artistic sensitivity and intellectual aristocracy awaken in this man devoted to music an expressiveness that one might call anti-virtuosity, because it has surpassed perfectly mastered virtuosity and elevated it to the core of higher values.’
(Literatūra ir menas, Edmundas Gedgaudas)
‘It really feels as if his playing makes the world stand still for a moment.’
(Hessische Allgemeine)
‘Anyone who plays one of this musician's CDs in their car is tempted to take a detour.’
(Mitteldeutsche Zeitung)
Johannes Hustedt studied music education and flute in Bremen with Renate Ruge-von Rohden and in Karlsruhe with Renate Greiss-Armin, where he completed his concert exam with distinction in 1990 as a scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Scholarship Foundation in Bayreuth. Masterclasses with Aurèle Nicolet, Alain Marion, Paul Meisen and András Adorján rounded off his studies.
With a focus on musical and cultural exchange, he performs worldwide as a concert artist who crosses the boundaries between interpretation and improvisation. Premieres and concerts at prestigious festivals such as Ludwigsburg, Hohenlohe, Madrid, Warsaw, Kiev, Lviv, Tbilisi, Vilnius, Nida (Lithuania), Bergen (Norway), Toronto, Los Angeles and New York City bear witness to this, as do his internationally acclaimed CD releases as a soloist and chamber music partner, as well as worldwide radio and television productions. His playing is inspired by his engagement with music from all cultural circles, especially Asia, South America and Eastern Europe, as well as historical performance practice.
Johannes Hustedt teaches at the Karlsruhe University of Music and is an internationally sought-after guest lecturer and juror. Since 2023, he has been the artistic director of the largest open-air classical music concert in Baden-Württemberg: Mount Klassik, part of DAS FEST Karlsruhe, with up to 20,000 listeners.
Hustedt has had numerous works by contemporary composers dedicated to him. As part of the Reger Year 2016, the Max Reger Institute in Karlsruhe entrusted Hustedt with the posthumous premiere of Reger's Scherzo in G minor for flute and string quintet. He also undertook the posthumous premiere of Felicitas Kukuck's third flute sonata on behalf of the Archiv Frau und Musik in Frankfurt, as well as the premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's authorised new trio version of Über die Linie VI in 2025.
Hustedt's first recording of all of Georg Metzger's flute concertos with the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim and Sebastian Tewinkel was nominated for the German Record Critics' Award in 2022. The duo querhorn with his wife Chai Min Werner has received the Green Event BW award from the state of Baden-Württemberg several times for its sustainable concert formats and was selected by a jury of experts for the 2022/23 ensemble promotion of the German Music Council and Neustart Kultur. Together with her, he founded the Kunsthaus-Durlach in 2006 with the aim of making music, visual arts and spirituality directly accessible.