Richard Stoltzman

Richard Stoltzman ranks among the foremost clarinet virtuosos of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, having forged a singular path that unites jazz and classical disciplines with equal authority. Born July 12, 1942, in Omaha, Nebraska, he relocated with his family to San Francisco in childhood; his father, a Western Pacific railroad employee and devotee of big-band music who played alto saxophone, exposed him to jazz from the outset. Stoltzman took up the clarinet at age eight and soon performed alongside his father in Bay Area jazz clubs. Both Stoltzmans participated in a church choir, where Richard discreetly corrected off-pitch singers by playing his instrument in a vocal-like manner—an experience he later credited with shaping his signature warm tone. He earned undergraduate degrees in mathematics and music from The Ohio State University in 1964, then completed a master’s degree at Yale University in 1967 before continuing his studies at the Marlboro Music School and Festival. There he encountered pianist Peter Serkin, cellist Pablo Casals, and violinist Ida Kavafian; in 1973 he joined Serkin and Kavafian to found the chamber ensemble TASHI, a name drawn from a Tibetan phrase denoting good fortune. He became the first clarinetist to present solo recitals at both the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall, making his New York solo debut at the latter in 1974. Parallel jazz activities brought collaborations with vocalist Mel Tormé, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, keyboardist Chick Corea, and folk-pop artist Judy Collins; he was also the first performer to incorporate jazz into a recital at the historic Bayreuth Opera House. Classical partnerships included cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Christoph Eschenbach, together with solo appearances alongside major orchestras in the United States and abroad. His long association with RCA began in 1982 with a landmark recording of the Brahms clarinet sonatas. In 1986 he received the Avery Fisher Prize, becoming the first wind player so honored for distinguished achievement by an American musician. The BBC featured him in 1993 performing Copland’s Clarinet Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra in the series Concerto!. He maintained a three-decade touring and recording partnership with pianist Bill Douglas and issued one of his best-known albums, Begin Sweet World, in 1986. Subsequent releases appeared on MMC and Navona; beginning in 2019 he recorded for Avie, issuing the album Palimpsest with his wife, jazz marimbist Mika Stoltzman. In 2023 he returned to Navona to perform the Concertante for clarinet and orchestra on an album of works by composer Anthony Iannaccone. By then his discography had grown to roughly seventy-five titles. He maintained a busy concert schedule throughout 2022, devoting numerous programs to Corea’s music.