Ib Hausmann is one of Germany's top clarinetists, with a long list of first-rank chamber music and orchestral collaborators. As his career has developed, he has increasingly often become involved in modern performance forms, improvised music, including jazz, and theater music. By 20, Hausmann had already become the principal clarinetist of the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, and two years later, he was named to the same position with the Staatskapelle Berlin. Hausmann made his recording debut in 1995 with the Pellegrini Quartet, performing Morton Feldman's Two Pieces for clarinet and string quartet. In 1998, he recorded Max Reger's complete music for clarinet and piano with pianist Nina Tichman. Hausmann is also a composer, having issued works such as Ohnung (1996). He performed on a 2022 recording of Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps with the Amatis Trio.