Violinist Michael Hustedde is a native of Lexington, KY and has established a creative presence in Boston as a sought-after soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and educator.
Described as "tightly articulated, pitch-secure" (Providence Journal), Michael has performed internationally at venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Philharmonie de Paris, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kölner Philharmonie, KKL Lucerne, Boston Symphony Hall, and Shanghai Symphony Hall. He has been fortunate to work with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Matthias Pintscher, Heinz Holliger, Duncan Ward, and Steven Sloane. Locally, he is the principal second violin of the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, and can also be heard with ensembles such as the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Boston Ballet, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, Marsh Chapel Collegium, Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orchestra of Indian Hill, among others. He has been a featured artist at venues such as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Lilypad, and Aeronaut Brewing Company.
An avid chamber musician, he has performed as a guest artist at the Boston Conservatory, Alcyon Chamber Festival, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, Hopkinton Center for the Arts, Harvard Business School, and Brookline and Somerville Libraries. Recent chamber music appearances include concerts with the Apple Hill String Quartet as well as the Riverview Chamber Players for Harmony and Hope, a community concert series in response to gun violence. He also frequently performs quartet concerts as a founding member of the Denovo Quartet. Outside of Boston, he has also appeared as a guest artist at the Red Bull Music Festival, Deer Valley Music Festival, Austin City Limits Live Theater, and Pacific University, in addition to two tours to China with the Manhattan Symphonie.
Michael’s creative explorations have led him to varied repertoire and styles. As a soloist, he was invited to perform contemporary concerti by Bruce Broughton and Edith Lejet with the Newport Contemporary Music Series Orchestra in 2017. He was also a featured guest artist for NCMS's chamber series, where he performed chamber works by Elliott Carter, André Previn, and John Williams. In summers of 2017 and 2018, he was one of nine American violinists chosen for the Lucerne Festival Academy in Switzerland, the premier orchestra festival for contemporary music. He has also been featured on several video game soundtracks, including two top appearances on the iTunes charts as a former member of the Videri String Quartet. Notable performances at major conventions include the Rooster Teeth Expo, Game Developers Conference, MagFest, and PAX East.
A prizewinner at an early age, Michael won the Borchardt Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition and the Macauley Chamber Music Competition. He went on to study at Boston University with Bayla Keyes for his B.Mus. and Dana Mazurkevich for his M.Mus. Summer music studies include the Lucerne Festival Academy, Spoleto Festival USA, New England Conservatory's SICPP, Meadowmount School of Music, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Le Domaine Forget International Music Academy, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, and Brevard Music Center. In addition to his performance career, he is a Boston Chamber Music Society Teaching Artist working with young musicians at Somerville High School. He also serves on the music faculty at the Middlesex School in Concord, MA. As a recording artist, he can be heard on Gothic Records with James Kallembach's Most Sacred Body and on the latest FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE Original Soundtrack.
In 2018, Michael was awarded an Entrepreneurial Grant from the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) and Assets for Artists Foundation. He is also a City of Boston Certified Artist.