Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson is principal flute of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as a distinguished international soloist and chamber musician. He was appointed to the post in 2015 by Zell Music Director Riccardo Muti. Prior to joining the CSO, he served as principal flute of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 2008 to 2016. A native of Iceland, Höskuldsson has been praised by The New York Times for his agility and warmth of expression.
Höskuldsson has performed widely throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan under the skilled direction of Fabio Luisi, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Barenboim, Seiji Ozawa, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Riccardo Muti. He has frequently performed at Carnegie Hall with the Met Orchestra and Chamber Ensemble, and in 2009 he was featured as a soloist in Pierre Boulez’s Mémoriale-Explosant Fixe. Höskuldsson has collaborated on performances and recordings with such artists as renowned pianists Evgeny Kissin, Alfred Brendel and Yefim Brofman; violinist Gil Shaham, and sopranos Diana Damrau and Anna Netrebko. As a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Höskuldsson has received two Grammy awards in the category of Best Opera Recording for Wagner’s Ring Cycle and Thomas Ades’ The Tempest.
His extensive solo performances include engagements with the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan; concerts with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra; recitals at the Galway International Flute Festival in Lucerne; and a live radio broadcast with BBC Radio 3’s In Tune program in London. He frequently performs as a concerto soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, including critically acclaimed performances of Mozart’s Flute Concerto in D Major in 2018 and Vivaldi’s Concerto La Notte in 2022, conducted by Riccardo Muti. In March 2024 Höskuldsson premiered Lowell Liebermann’s Flute Concerto No. 2 with the CSO, conducted by Susanna Malkki. This concerto was written especially for Höskuldsson and was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Stefán Höskuldsson has been a faculty member with the Pacific Music Festival in Japan since 2010. He has given master classes at the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and Mannes College of Music in New York and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Music in London. He is currently on the faculty of DePaul University School of Music. Höskuldsson attended the Reykjavík School of Music in Iceland, where he studied with Bernhard Wilkinson. Following his graduation, he attended the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, as a student of Peter Lloyd.
