Charles Stier

In 2010, Charles Stier and the Cherry Valley Music Studio were chosen by the Wurlitzer family to be the exclusive North American point-of-sale for Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm Clarinets.

Previously, Stier was named the North American Artist Representative for Wurlitzer clarinets in 1996. Performing and recording on Wurlitzers since 1987, Stier has delivered concerto, recital and chamber music performances in seventeen countries on three continents.

Dr. Stier performs on Reform-Boehm Model No.185 "Artist" Clarinets made by Herbert Wurlitzer in 1987, a George Pieterson Model German-Reform-Boehm mouthpiece by Hans Zinner and Vandoren White Master No.3.5 reeds with a string ligature (Schnur).

Dr. Stier’s personal history makes him a unique figure in American and European clarinet performance. Having studied with both Robert Marcellus and Marcellus’s personal clarinet finisher and repairman, W. Hans Moennig, Stier was given access to important information concerning the strengths and in many cases overwhelming problems with the traditional American reliance upon mass manufactured clarinets.

Convinced there had to be a better answer – one which would lift clarinet performance from a set of problems to a level of seamless artistry, Stier sought and received instruction and advice from Karl Leister before entering a period of in-depth study with George Pieterson (retired Solo Clarinetist, Royal Concertgebouworkest, Amsterdam, Holland). While studying with Pieterson, he switched to Wurlitzer Reform-Boehm clarinets, made for him by the late Herbert Wurlitzer in 1987.

His unique combination of first-hand knowledge from what many still regard as golden-era of American clarinet performance and the greatest clarinetists of the European tradition gives him a perspective and knowledge that he is excited to share with other clarinet players in America who might also be searching for what he found over twenty years ago.

He now lives in Olney, Maryland with his wife and recital partner, pianist Molly Stier. They teach exclusively at the Cherry Valley Music Studio.