Hommage à Astor Piazzolla

Johannes Hustedt - flute
Christoph Obert - accordion
Johannes Blomenkamp - organ & piano

Bandoneonist and composer Astor Piazzolla, born in Argentina and raised in the USA, is considered an innovator of tango. In Tango Nuevo, he draws on the music of his homeland and combines it with the musical styles cultivated in New York's jazz clubs in the first half of the 20th century. Many of Piazzolla's works are meticulously crafted compositions. He was considered a perfectionist among his colleagues.
Johannes Hustedt (flute), Christoph Obert (accordion), and Johannes Blomenkamp (organ & piano) have arranged a selection of Piazzolla's works for a very distinctive and rarely heard version of a jazz trio. The flute joins the organ or piano as a flexible solo instrument, while the accordion, with its additional timbres and hand-generated wind, adds nuances that create something entirely new. In addition to the music of Astor Piazzolla, works by accordionists and composers Franck Angelis and Klaus Paier will be heard, intended as musical tributes to the master.

Cheerful, slightly upbeat, with a subtle sense of humor: this is what the versatile musicians Johannes Blomenkamp and Johannes Hustedt convey brilliantly in their music. They are at home in a wide variety of musical styles and allow their audience to participate in them in a lively way as they create impressive soundscapes, exploring, expanding, and even transcending the boundaries between classical music and musical styles from other cultures, eras, and continents.

Delicate, broken chords, a bright organ sound that blends perfectly with the flute, and gently curved lines in close dialogue (one senses the long-standing familiarity between the two performers). ... This elegance and lightness can be felt throughout the entire program. ... Two encores, by Robert Schumann and César Cui, are applauded by the audience. Flute and organ – an unusual but appealing combination.
Christine Gehringer, PAMINA Magazine

Johannes Hustedt studied music education and flute at the Universities of Music in Bremen and Karlsruhe, where he graduated with distinction in 1990. Driven by a commitment to musical and cultural exchange, he performs extensively worldwide, including appearances at prestigious international festivals, often straddling the line between interpretation and improvisation. He is the dedicatee of numerous works by contemporary composers. Radio and television broadcasts, as well as highly acclaimed CD releases on various labels, document his work as a soloist and chamber musician. He teaches at the Karlsruhe University of Music and is a sought-after guest lecturer and adjudicator. As part of the Reger Year 2016, the Max Reger Institute in Karlsruhe entrusted Johannes Hustedt with the posthumous world premiere of Reger's Scherzo in G minor for flute and string quintet, WoO II/1. His first recording of all of Georg Metzger's flute concertos was nominated for the German Record Critics' Award's shortlist. 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 in Karlsruhe, attracts up to 20,000 listeners.

Christoph Obert studied music education with a major in piano and geography in Karlsruhe and subsequently completed additional training to become a functional voice teacher according to Rabine. As a singer in vocal ensembles such as the Balthasar Neumann Choir (Thomas Hengelbrock), the Schola Heidelberg (Walter Nußbaum), and the German Chamber Choir, he has performed numerous works from the Renaissance to contemporary music. His later discovery of the accordion opened his eyes to new styles such as Balkan, Klezmer, Musette, and Tango. He has developed a concert career as a soloist and member of various projects and ensembles. At the same time, he works as a freelance teacher of voice, piano, and accordion, as well as a choir director, including at the Cantus Juvenum Girls' and Boys' Choir in Karlsruhe.

Johannes Blomenkamp studied church music in Heidelberg, where he also taught choral conducting for two semesters. After ten years as district cantor in Gehrden near Hanover, he has been a church musician at the Durlach City Church and district cantor of the Evangelical Church in Karlsruhe since 2007. With the gospel and jazz choir "spirited voices," he won the Baden-Württemberg State Choir Competition in 2013. He directs the Durlach Choir as well as the boys' choirs and the youth choir of the Durlach Singing School. As an organist, he can be heard playing the Stumm/Goll organ of the Durlach City Church during the "Durlach Organ Nights" and at "heiter bis rauschend," the traditional organ concert on Carnival Saturday. In 2021, the Evangelical Church in Baden appointed him Church Music Director.