“Fine works demonstrating even better playing by the Ensemble Diderot. Both fiddles play with persuasive mastery, but the finest moments arrive with the ravishing transverse flute playing of Kristen Huebner.”
- AUDIOPHILE AUDITION
About me
Bio
Originally from the United States, Kristen Huebner now bases her musical life in the Netherlands and Europe. Kristen received her first Bachelors Degree in Music Performance from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis studying with Immanuel Davis. After hopping the pond to the Netherlands in 2009, she has since become an avid specialist on the baroque flute, holding both Bachelors and Masters Diplomas from the Utrecht Conservatory (BM) and The Royal Conservatory of The Hague (MM), where she studied with Wilbert Hazelzet and Kate Clark. She currently tours Europe with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir under the direction of Ton Koopman and has collaborated alongside members of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century under Frans Brüggen. Her work with the Paris-based Ensemble Diderot led by Johannes Pramsohler, has led to numerous appearances at festivals such as Musikfest Erzgebirge and the Bach Biennale Weimar. In addition Kristen appears on the ensemble’s 2016 CD recording of the Mondonville Trio Sonatas on Audax Records. Collaborations with several European historically informed ensembles have included performances at the Valletta International Baroque Festival in Malta with Mahan Esfahani and La Folia Barockorchester.
Kristen’s research on Empfindsamkeit in the chamber music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach has been adapted into an article for the online journal Music & Practice, published in 2015. Kristen joined the teaching team last summer at the 2022 Zomer Academie Zutphen, where she led the traverso masterclass. Alongside a busy performance schedule, Kristen also enjoys a bustling private teaching practice for both historical and modern flutes in Utrecht, NL.
Publications
In addition to playing music, I’m also deeply invested in writing about it. Of course this implies an interest in research and scholarship. My biggest area of interest concern discovering material which is as yet unknown or underappreciated.
My Masters research on the chamber music of the Empfindsamkeit was published by the online peer-reviewed journal ‘Music and Practice’… Read it here!
Press
Press for Ensemble Diderot’s Mondonville CD and Concerts:
“The finest moments of this recording arrive with the transverse flute playing of Kristen Huebner…Her tone on the instrument is ravishing and provides more vivid contrast in the melodic voices.”
-Fritz Balwit (December 18, 2016)
Ensemble Diderot CD Review on Audiophile Audition“The Ensemble Diderot perform with historical awareness and enthusiasm. Their commitment to this music, receiving its first recording, is persuasive and their flawless precision is compelling.”
-Stephen Greenbank
Ensemble Diderot CD Review on Music Web International
Praise for Ensemble Diderot Concerts, December 2016:
“Betörend elegant in den federleicht und höchst beweglich dahingeträllerten Vogelstimmenimitationen und ausdrucksreich und gefühlvoll in den lyrischen Passagen.”
-Hans Jürgen Kugler (December 6, 2016)
Bad Krozingen Concert Review in Badischen Zeitung“Das Concerto à 4 parties in a-Moll von Michel Blavet glänzte durch seinen tänzerischen Auftakt. In den heiter und unbeschwert aufspielenden Flötenpassagen brillierte Kristen Huebner in spannungsreichen Improvisationen über tiefen Cello-Liegetönen. Berührend der langsame Mittelsatz als innig-sinnliches Duett von Flöte und Violine in vollkommener Harmonie, die durch einen stürmisch wie ein Sommergewitter hereinbrechenden Finalsatz virtuos zu Ende geführt wird.”
-Hans Jürgen Kugler (December 6, 2016)
Bad Krozingen Concert Review in Badischen Zeitung“La sonate en trio op. 2 n°5 de Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville ouvre le répertoire à la flûte chaude et envoûtante de Kristen Huebner.”
-Bertrand Ferrier (December 17, 2016)
Concert Review of Ensemble Diderot Paris CD Release Concert
ENSEMBLES
Joined together in their mutual love for chamber music, the Netherlands-based Westeinde Winds comprises five women passionate about the performance of historical music on period instruments. After years of playing together with some of the top historically-informed ensembles of Europe and realizing this desire to play in a more intimate setting, the Westeinde Winds were born. The woodwind quintet was also enjoying its own birth around the end of the 18th century, using heavier materials and multiple keys to compete with the ever-rising sound demands in the orchestra. Westeinde Winds are dedicated to playing on models of these historical instruments to seek insight into how this music was performed and share this knowledge with future listeners and music makers to come.
Check out the Live Streamed Concert from the 2022 Bloomington Early Music Festival!
As special guest of the Paris-based Ensemble Diderot, I’ve had the pleasure of recording two Mondonville Sonatas, No. 3 & 5, performing the Opera ‘Falstaff’ and playing Blavet Concerto frequently in concert in Sudtirol, Italy, Germany and France.
The Primary Sources is a pre-classical chamber music duo specializing in works from the late 18th to early 19th centuries. Forming the basis are Kristen Huebner and Lucie de Saint Vincent on fortepiano.
Our most recent trio program, together with cellist Gerda Marijs, explores the connection between ex-pat composers from ‘the continent’ (Johann Christian Bach, Carl Friedrich Abel, Muzio Clementi, a young Mozart on tour and Haydn to name a few) and their new-found artistic home in London during the 1760s.
Teachings and Contact
Teachings
I’m passionate about teaching the historical and modern flutes and exploring genres both close to my heart and stretching outside my comfort zone. If you’re an absolute beginner or have the itch to take the instrument back up again after a few years, there’s always a good time to begin! My lessons are catered to your musical interests, level and availability.
Check out my traverso and modern flute teaching pages at Vivaldi Music Lessons.
Last summer marked my first time teaching the traverso class at the Zomer Academie Zutphen.
I also enjoy leading a modern flute ensemble Friday Flute Club, comprised of adult students from my private teaching studio in Utrecht, NL. Wanna join us? Just shoot me a message using this handy contact form!
Contact
Gallery
