Sabine Meyer

The breadth of clarinetist Sabine Meyer’s repertoire is matched by her dedication to collaborations with other, equally skilled musicians. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the world, earned critical acclaim for her recording catalog, and is a noted educator.
Meyer was born on March 30, 1959 in Crailsheim, Germany. She received her first music lessons from her father, clarinetist Karl Meyer, and then went on to study with Otto Hermann in Stuttgart and Hans Deinzer in Hannover. Sabine was 16 when she made her professional debut. She joined Munich’s Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for a time, then, in 1982, Herbert von Karajan created something of an international stir by appointing her as solo clarinetist for the Berlin Philharmonic, going against the orchestra’s tradition of not admitting female musicians. However, she only remained with the orchestra for a year, as the demand grew for her to perform as a soloist with other orchestras and chamber ensembles.
In 1983, Meyer formed the Clarone Trio with her brother, Wolfgang Meyer, and her husband, Reiner Wehle; with the Trio, Sabine has recorded with jazz clarinetists Eddie Daniels and Michael Riessler. In 1988, she founded the Bläserensemble Sabine Meyer. In 1993, Meyer was appointed professor at the Lübeck Academy of Music. She makes a specific emphasis on solid technical training for her students to aid their tone quality. Among her students are Julian Bliss, Shirley Brill, and Annelien van Wauwe. In addition to having performed with more than 80 professional orchestras in Germany and her regular appearances throughout Europe, North America, and Japan, her work has taken her to Brazil, Africa, Israel, and Australia. Meyer’s chamber music partners have included Barbara Hendricks, Gidon Kremer, and the Tokyo String Quartet, among many others.
Meyer’s recordings garnered eight ECHO Klassik awards from the Deutsche Phonoakademie. Her recordings include most of the standard concerto, solo, and chamber music repertory for clarinet, but she has worked assiduously with contemporary composers to present new works as well. The award-winning album Modern Works for Wind Ensemble with the Bläserensemble Sabine Meyer features works by Denisov, Hosokawa, Castiglioni, and others, and she has also premiered pieces by Harald Genzmer, Marc-André Dalbavie, and Manfred Trojahn. In 2010, Meyer received the Chevalier de Arts et des Lettres from the French government, and in 2013, she was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Meyer joined the Alliage Quintett for the 2016 Sony Classical album Fantasia, and in 2020, she was heard on a Mirare recording of Schubert's Octet. ~ Patsy Morita & Keith Finke