Eric Schultz is an American clarinetist equally in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, and interpreter of new music. He maintains an active concerto schedule performing with orchestras across the world and can be seen and heard from Netflix to National Public Radio. Hailed a “mastermind” in the Myrtle Beach Herald and a “pathfinder” by iconic composer Valerie Coleman, Schultz was selected as a quarterfinalist for the 2025 GRAMMY® Music Educator of the Year Award.

An uncompromising advocate for the music of our time whose unique voice on the clarinet has inspired many of today’s finest composers, Schultz is known for his liquid, soulful tone quality and singular abilities on the instrument, including an unrivaled five-octave range, limitless facility of technique, and improvisations that span many dialects. Dubbed a “superstar muse” by celebrated composer Amanda Harberg, Schultz has commissioned and/or premiered the music of Valerie Coleman, Leila Adu-Gilmore, Jonathan Bailey Holland, David Sanford, Mary Watkins, Liliya Ugay, Chiayu Hsu, Tony Solitro, Johanny Navarro, Armando Bayolo, Carlos Carrillo, Iván Enrique Rodríguez, and many more. Pulitzer-prize winning composer John Corigliano declared Schultz’s performance of his iconic clarinet concerto in New York City “a sensation” (BroadwayWorld), while critic Jeffrey Williams praised his “super-virtuosity” and described the performance as “an adrenaline rush, bursting with drama and relentless momentum” (NYCR).

As an educator, Schultz encourages an individualized, project-based and passion-fueled creative approach to music learning while advocating for living composers and expanding repertoire lists toward a more intentionally inclusive and relevant future model. He is known for his transformational masterclasses with recent residencies at the Conservatorio de Música Ástor Piazzolla in Buenos Aires, Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, New York University, California State University Fullerton, Juilliard, UMass, Rutgers, and more. Schultz currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Coastal Carolina University, where he is coordinator of the woodwind area and director of the Center for Inclusive Excellence. As a founding faculty of the center, he coined the phrase and created The [Represent]atoire Project, a play on the words repertoire and representation. The project advocates for including a diversity of composers in collegiate music curricula by intensely focusing on a living American composer every year.

This year, Schultz released his debut solo album POLYGLOT on Navona Records, showcasing a collection of virtuosic new works written for him. I Care If You Listen praised the album, highlighting a “keen sense of lyricism” and “uncommon sensitivity and precision of expression.” Schultz completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in clarinet performance at Stony Brook University. As a Buffet Crampon performing artist, he performs exclusively on Buffet Crampon clarinets. @ericschultzclarinet