Karl Leister (born 15 June 1937) is a classical clarinet player from

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...

, Germany. At a very young age, he learned to play the clarinet from his father, also a clarinetist, and later studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. As a teenager, he was accepted into the Komische Oper Berlin under

Václav Neumann Václav Neumann (29 October 1920 – 2 September 1995) was a Czech conductor, violinist, violist, and opera director. Life and career Neumann was born in Prague, where he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Josef Micka (violin), and ...

and

Walter Felsenstein Walter Felsenstein (30 May 1901 – 8 October 1975) was an Austrian theater and opera director. He was one of the most important exponents of textual accuracy, productions in which dramatic and musical values were exquisitely researched and ba ...

as clarinet soloist. In 1959, Leister joined the

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was f ...

under the baton of

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wit ...

; this musical association was to last for thirty years. During this time, he became internationally recognized as a soloist and chamber musician. He was also one of the founding members of the Bläser der Berliner Philharmoniker ("Berlin Soloists"), which made a number of recordings – including

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

's "Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Opus 115". Additionally, he co-founded the Ensemble Wien-Berlin. The creation of the Herbert von Karajan Academy of the

has permitted Leister to teach music to a whole new generation of musicians. From 1993 to 2002, Leister held the position of Professor at the

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

in Berlin.

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