Michael Faust's concert career began in his native Cologne, Germany, where he was a student of Cäcilie Lamerichs. Later he studied in Hamburg with Karlheinz Zöller, principal flute of the Berlin Philharmonic, and with Aurèle Nicolet in Basel, Switzerland. Mr. Faust embarked upon his orchestral career with the renowned Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome. After this, he served as Solo Flutist with the Hamburg Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, and, currently, with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has played under the baton of the most celebrated conductors, among them Sergiu Celibidache, Seiji Ozawa, H.v. Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, C.v. Dohnany, Leonard Slatkin, Hans Vonk, Gunther Schuller and Lorin Maazel, who has praised the spiri-ted and talen-ted flutist, for his "radiant tone and di-stinct musicality"..

Mr. Faust has won prizes in prestigious music competitions in Rome, Prague and Bonn. As a 1986 Pro Musicis award winner in New York, he has accorded début concerts in such music centers as Boston, Washington, New York, Paris, Tokyo, and Osaka. Faust performs and gives master classes regularly throughout the United States, South America, Japan and Europe. His performances on five continents as soloist, as chamber and orchestra musician have won him enthusiastic critical acclaim and recording contracts on many labels. His recordings include a recital with pianist Alexander Lonquich, H.W.Henze's El Cimarrón, a three-CD set of music from Bach to Mozart with harpsichordist Ilton Wjuniski for GM Recordings, works for flute and orchestra by Ibert, Bernstein and others with the Cologne Radio Symphony (Capriccio Records), chamber works of Elliot Carter (CPO Records) and works of Schumann, Franck and Prokofjev with pianist Randall Hodgkinson (GM Recordings).

Recent highlights for Mr. Faust include performances of Gunther Schuller's flute concerto with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Ibert's flute-concerto with the Moscow Radio-Symphony, a tour throughout Bosnia and a recital in the Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. The New York Concert Review wrote of this performance: "Mr Faust deploys his exeptional instrumental gifts to the needs of the music at hand". Last season included performances with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, the Amazonas Symphony, Manaus, various German Orchestras and many chamber-music concerts throughout the world, including Frankfurt, Boston and Tokyo.

The New York Times 4/89

... Mr. Faust is an impeccable interpreter. His rendering of Debussy's "Syrinx" was shaped with such care and detail that the ubiquitous solo work sounded invitingly fresh.

The Boston Globe 4/89

... There are many colors in his instrument. The glamour, variety, speed, and aplomb are marvelous. He did have us admiring his minty, cool, bright sound in the Schubert, and his sensitive shaping of the song "Ihr Blümlein alle" contained therein. ...

The Washington Post 4/89

... A big, full sound ..., breathtakingly rapid and clear note-stops, and an active, mercurial sense of phrasing are but a few of the qualities that make his playing continually interesting. All the things that normally bother flutists - attacks and decrescendos in the high register, fluttertonguing and shortness of breath, for instance - never got in his way. ... It is noteworthy that he managed to breathe new life into such works as the sonatas by Poulenc and Prokofjev and, perhaps most astonishingly, Debussy's solo "Syrinx".

BBC music Magazine, 10/94

... Michael Faust, ..., is in his element as soloist in this disc of 20th century flute repertoire. He glides in and out of the eerie, ghost-like sections and fantastical dances in Martin s Ballade, then transforms into a robust interpreter of majestic and humorous tunes in the Nielsen. Bernstein s Halil shows Faust in full command of the flute s expressive qualities, from dark, esoteric ramblings to syncopated flutter-tongues.

Grammophone, 12/94

... This unusual programme is imaginative and satisfying. ... and Michael Faust, a spledid flutist and artist, has the range to illuminate them all. ... A strong recommendation for this well-planned and deftly performed programme. ... Once again, a fine performance.

Spokesman-Review, Spokane 1/96

... Faust has a seemly limitless supply of air enabling him to wend his way through Bach's complex melodic lines, and he is able to project a whisper-soft tone over the footlights.

New York Concert Review 7/96

... Mr Faust deploys his exeptional instrumental gifts to the needs of the music at hand.

St.Louis Post-Dispatch 3/98

... Flutist Michael Faust was an admirable soloist, with a strong lyrical feeling, solid technique and a good sense of the music's inherent humor.

Spokesman-Review, Spokane 1/99

....The soloist was the brilliant flute virtuoso Michael Faust. ... He proved fully as exciting in the brilliant display and charming lyricism required by Faure's Fantasie and Ibert's Concerto as he was in the past seasons in the complexities of Bach. ... He seemed to have a complete identification with the witty sparkle and sinuous melodies of these French masters.